Raising Baby Right
by DemonClowSorceress
Summary: As the Impala, she's always been there for Dean and Sam. Now Baby needs her boys to be there for her when she's suddenly human again. Sequel to the events of "Home Is Where My Baby Is."
1. Baby's First Steps

**Raising Baby Right**

**By: DemonClowSorceress**

******Sequel to the events of "Home Is Where My Baby Is." ********Set in the season 9 timeline.**

**Blanket Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural_, or else there'd be no hiatus til October, we'd have new episodes in, like, June.**

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_**Baby's First Steps**_

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The first thing Baby felt upon awakening was the Kansas midday sun warming her metal body like a sun lamp. She rolled her shoulders and stretched out like a cat, yawning widely as she shook off the last coils of sleep. _Wow, that was a good nap..._

_Wait an tic. __Shoulders? Stretching? Yawning? _Baby's eyes - _eyes! _- widened in shock as she looked down at herself. Arms, legs, chest, fingers and toes, long black hair hanging loose around her face... _I'm human?_

It couldn't be possible. The original spell was long gone, and as far as she knew, Sam and Dean hadn't found another feasible enough to attempt. Apparently transmogrification spells weren't standard knowledge for any witch they'd come across. And yet here she was, sitting in front of the bunker like an abandoned kitten, as bare as the last time she'd suddenly been turned human.

_I...I'm really human again._ Her hands reached up and tangled in her black tresses as an elated giggle escaped her lips._ I'm human again! _

Her first instinct was to jump for joy and scream in delight, but Baby quickly squashed the urge. While the bunker was technically in the middle of nowhere, it was stupid to assume she was alone. She hurriedly looked around for any sign of life, but there was none to be seen.

She needed cover, and a plan. _Get inside the bunker, find Dean and Sammy, and figure out what the hell's turned me flesh and blood again. Good plan._

Hunching over to protect her body, Baby quickly scuttled towards the entrance to the bunker. The door was locked, but that didn't bother her. Closing her empty hand into a fist, she uncurled her fingers and smiled when she saw the key lying in her palm. _Thank god they hid a spare key in my wheelwell._

It took a few seconds to insert the key correctly and unlock the door. Being careful to pull it shut behind her, Baby crawled on all fours towards the steps. Once she successfully descended without mishap, she made her way into a room with more than enough books to make Sammy the happiest little researcher forever, and there were several weapons on display that would make Dean happy as well. Plates of half-eaten food were on the table along with several opened books, and hanging off the back of a chair was -

_Yes! _She picked up the green jacket and slipped it on, smiling goofily as she buried her nose into the collar and breathed in Dean's familiar smell. She had to shake her head forcefully to refocus.

_Now that I'm clothed, time to take a stand_. She wasn't about to let her boys see her for the first time since Valence crawling along like a critter on the highway. She'd run over enough of those little creatures to know that wasn't a dignified way to be seen.

Reaching up to grasp the seat of the nearest chair, Baby pulled her body up enough so that she could get her legs beneath her. One hand grabbed the edge of the table, and she used what little strength she had to pull herself fully to her feet. After a couple more tries and not a little swearing under her breath, she was upright for the first time in a long time.

Now that she was standing, she had to find her boys. But where? Other doors and staircases were clearly visible, no doubt leading to other rooms in this place, but Baby had no time to explore. She could faintly hear voices coming from another staircase across the library and walked towards them, firmly planting her bare feet on the hardwood floors and hugging the walls to steady herself.

As she made her way downstairs, the sounds grew more distinct. There was the steady _bang-bang-bang_ of gunfire, the _click_ of an ejected magazine, the back-and-forth banter of brothers egging each other on. They sounded happy and healthy and almost normal, which made Baby smile in relief.

At the doorway to the shooting range, she paused to take in the sight. The Winchesters were indeed having target practice, but she was surprised to see Castiel with them. All three had their backs to the doorway, allowing Baby to watch them without being discovered. The angel was holding a pistol somewhat awkwardly as Dean tried to give him pointers, and Sam was laughing about something as he cleaned his own handgun.

She was about to call out when a thought suddenly struck her; she hadn't spoken aloud since first waking up human. Which meant that her first words would be heard by her boys.

Baby took a deep breath and thought hard. _Hello _just didn't seem good enough, _Did you do this to me? _sounded ungrateful, and _Guess who? _was just too immature for such an important moment. She wanted to say something that would convey every single emotion that was fighting to escape her heart, to say _Hello _and _How are you _and _I've missed you all so much_.

Licking her lips, she leaned against the doorframe for balance as she searched for the right words to say.

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**And now a new adventure begins! Stay tuned!**

**And review or PM me. Please, I welcome it.**


	2. Baby's First Words

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural_.**

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_**Baby's First Words**_

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"Sight down the barrel, Cas." Dean Winchester tapped the top of the gun to show Castiel what he meant. "Focus here first, then the end of the barrel, then the target. Once you've got it, squeeze the trigger. Don't yank it."

Steadying his stance, Castiel took a breath and stared intently for a few seconds. His finger slowly squeezed the trigger, and he started when the gun's discharge echoed in the shooting range like a popped balloon. The bullet ended up in the second outermost ring.

"Good try, man," Dean said, slapping his shoulder encouragingly. "Do it again, and don't flinch this time."

As Castiel returned to his stance, Dean's mind wandered back to more serious matters. Almost two weeks ago, the sun had dawned on a very different world. What with Abbadon smoking out before Sam had truly exorcised her, Metatron giving all the angels the big boot from Heaven, and the half-cured Crowley currently whimpering in their dungeon, there were new, unfamiliar rules in place for the Winchesters.

But even with all that brewing in the back of his head, Dean tried to remain optimistic. Kevin was hard at work deciphering the angel tablet, searching for a way to reverse the forced Fall of the angels as well as identifying the real trials to close Heaven's gates. Castiel was adjusting pretty well to his new human status, all things considered - at least there was no sign of drug abuse or orgies in the near future. Sam was looking less like death warmed over and more like his old self with every passing day.

Which brought them to now. When Sam mentioned wanting to hit the shooting range, the three men had left Kevin in his room to bond over firearms. As expected, Castiel handled the weapon somewhat awkwardly and needed more than a brief tutorial, but Dean was happy to teach him. Today was supposed to be a relaxation day, and the atmosphere was comfortable. For the first time in many weeks, they let their guard down.

Until they heard a soft alto voice emanate from the door of the shooting range.

"I'm home."

Fast as thought Sam spun around and leveled his newly-cleaned gun at the intruder, as did Castiel, while Dean's hand went for the knife he always carried in his pocket. Their reactions were understandable - assuming every ex-angel knew about Castiel's involvement in their forced exile and every demon heard about Crowley's state, their enemy list had gotten a whole lot longer.

"Wow, maybe I should've knocked?" quipped the woman in the doorway. She looked like she'd stumbled through a bramble patch and splashed through a mud puddle, her hair a wild mess of tangles, dirt caked on her bare feet and streaked across her cheeks.

"Hello Baby," Castiel said politely, lowering his gun.

It was so obvious, so formal, so _Cas _that it brought a smile to Baby's face as a giggle escaped her lips. The giggle cut off abruptly when her wobbling legs suddenly folded. Sam moved to catch her, but since he was still too unsteady from his recent trials, Dean beat him to it. Baby's hands clutched at his sleeves while she tried to regain her footing. Wide silver eyes looked up at Dean with a combination of anxiety and elation.

"Aren't you gonna say something?" she asked after a full minute of silence. "Dean? Sammy?" Her silvery eyes darted to each brother as her voice trembled, sounding like she was between close to laughing or bursting into tears. Her eyes widened as they took in Sam's haggard appearance. "What the hell happened to you?"

"You first," Sam replied.

"I just woke up outside."

"How - ?" His voice broke after that first word, and Dean hastily swallowed to try again. He reached up and combed his fingers through her hair, as if testing to be sure she was really there. "How are you..."

"I was hoping you knew." Her legs gave out again, forcing Dean to catch her. "Still can't stay upright," she grumbled. "You'd think I'd remember all this from the last time..."

By now Castiel had joined them, the former angel looking over her with those clinical blue eyes. "Perhaps the nature of your transformation is different this time," he guessed. "Adonis' spell had completely transformed you human, with the proper human behaviors and reflexes already instilled in your psyche. This seems to be a more simplistic conversion."

"...Huh?"

"Whatever turned you human this time just made your body human," Sam said. "You have to learn how to do everything again."

"Seriously?" Baby groaned. "Son of a _bitch_."

Dean didn't think he'd have a reason to laugh so soon after everything that had happened. But that familiar curse from his Impala startled a short but hearty laugh from his chest as he pulled her into a tight embrace. _Baby's human again_.

Then he pulled back and gave Baby a half-grimace. "No offense Baby, but...you look like crap."

Frowning in confusion, she looked down at her body. "Huh," she murmured, as if surprised by what she saw. "Well then, this will have to be fixed. Let's go outside, Dean."

"What? Why?"

She looked up at him as if he were stupid. "To wash me down, obviously." Baby turned on one heel and started heading back the way she came, gaining strength and balance with each step.

Sam couldn't help laughing at his brother's expression when he realized that their Impala was dead serious. "You'd better get going before she decides to take off that jacket. If this is anything like last time..." He trailed off suggestively, and Dean's eyes went wide in shock and horror.

"Wait! Baby, no!"

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**And now, here we go, off on another adventure!**

**Review please!**


	3. Baby's First Bath

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural_.**

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**When Kevin Meets Baby**

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Kevin heard shouts outside his closed door and immediately reached for the dagger beside his notepad. Despite reassurances that the bunker was warded from all evil, the young prophet had learned to err on the side of caution. Hence why there was a devil's trap painted on the ceiling just inside his door, salt and iron in easily reach everywhere, and a handy Super Soaker full of holy water resting on the wall beside his desk. You could never be too prepared.

When there was no call to arms or screams of pain, Kevin curiously got up and opened his door to peek out. Castiel was just walking by with an armful of towels, so he called out, "Hey, Cas. What's going on?"

Castiel turned and said, "I'm fetching more towels."

"I can see that. But for who?"

Before Castiel could respond, they heard Dean start to argue with somebody in the entrance hall Kevin couldn't identify. He walked to the doorway and was surprised to see Dean arguing with a pretty woman with black hair who appeared to be wearing nothing but a towel. "I thought there were no girls allowed in the lair?" he asked blandly, taking in her soapy, glistening skin and the water puddling around her bare feet.

"She's not really a girl," said Sam as he appeared beside Kevin, holding a black leather jacket and jeans in his arms. "That's Baby."

"Baby?" It took a few seconds to place the name. "Wait, you mean she's..."

"Yeah, our Impala."

Kevin looked up at the taller man and arched an eyebrow. "I know some guys love their cars, but isn't this a bit excessive?"

Sam shook his head. "It's not like that. We don't know what happened this time."

"This time?"

"Yeah, one time she was transformed by a god who was changing cars into girls for some kind of harem. Really weird. Anyway, now she's human again and we don't know how." Sam raked his hair back out of his eyes and watched his brother argue with the young woman with amusement glittering in his eyes.

Kevin was about to ask what was so funny when a strangled yell of "No!" drew his attention back to the bickering pair. Dean's face was slowly turning a bright red as he continued, "Baby, no! That's not happening!"

"Why not?" Unlike Dean, she didn't raise her voice or sound embarrassed. "You've rinsed me down before. What's different now?"

"Everything! You're human now!"

"I've noticed."

"And you're a girl!"

"Yeah. So?" She looked over to Kevin, and the prophet was startled to see her eyes were the color of brightly polished chrome. She nodded once in greeting before speaking again to Dean. "It's not like you've never seen my bare chassis before - "

"It's not the same thing and you know it!" Dean yelped, his face now a dark maroon as he glanced over helplessly at Sam. "A little help here!"

A chuckling Sam stepped forward and said, "Baby? How'd you like the hot bath?"

"It was nice, but the soap stings my eyes and I can't be left in standing water for very long. I could rust."

"Then go dry off!" Dean said.

Sam laughed a little. "C'mon Baby, let's get you dry and dressed. I saved your clothes from last time."

Kevin noticed how Baby's eyes lit up with recognition at the sight of the clothes in Sam's arms. She started towards him, then looked back to Dean and asked, "You'll still wax me, right?"

Kevin sniggered as Dean's face flushed an even darker red and snapped, "NO! Now go with Sam!"

"All right, all right," Baby sighed with a roll of her eyes. She noticed Kevin again and said, "Hello. I'm Baby."

Kevin smiled and nodded in greeting. "Nice to meet you, Baby. I'm Kevin."

Baby gave him a soft smile before following Sam towards the living quarters, leaving a trail of water behind. Castiel silently hurried after them both with his load of towels. Unable to stop smirking, Kevin sidled up beside Dean and observed how flustered the older man was. "So she's the Impala...and now she's a woman..." he remarked.

Narrowing his eyes, Dean snapped, "You got something to say?"

Kevin couldn't help his cheeky tone when he asked, "...Did you wish reeeeeally hard?"

The Winchester's cheeks flushed again. "Shut up."

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**Kevin takes the arrival of a strange woman quite calmly, all things considered...then again, he's seen a lot stranger stuff.**

**Review please!**


	4. Baby's First Book

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural._**

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**Spell Check with Sammy**

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Baby's voice floated through the library from wherever she was sitting among the shelves. "Sam? I don't know how to say this word."

"Spell it," Sam asked, not looking up from his own book.

"E-X-C-I-T-E-D."

"Excited."

Sam was happy that Baby was learning how to read on her own, but he couldn't spare any concentration. He was trying to find how to properly break a witch's lust spell before a cursed Dean slept his way through the female population of Asher, South Dakota. The last thing they needed was a Winchester participating in a shotgun wedding.

"What about B-L-U-S-H-I-N-G?"

"Blushing."

Castiel had already called twice in the last three hours. The normally unruffled man was out of his depth, suddenly working a case solo without any coaching, and it was keenly heard in his strained tone of voice. Since he was still confined to the bunker and too weak to assist, Sam could only work through the Men of Letters' library and find the answers needed. _No wonder Bobby always sounded so crotchety when we pestered him for information..._

"Sam?"

Sam had to clench his teeth and take a breath to keep from snapping at her. "What is it now, Baby?"

"M-O-A-N-I-N-G."

"Moaning."

His eyes caught a phrase that looked promising, and his attention was instantly focused on the problem once again. He quickly snatched up another book and flipped to a passage, checked his facts, and groped for his cell phone.

"Sam? E-C-S-T-A-S-Y."

"Ecstasy."

Castiel picked up on the second ring. "_Please tell me you've found something_," he asked. He sounded stressed and borderline exhausted.

"Maybe." Sam raised an eyebrow when he heard a suggestive comment in the background made in what sounded like his brother's voice. "Um, Cas? Is Dean - ?"

"_I was forced to tie him to the bed when he attempted to take liberties. Please tell me you've found a way to dispel the curse."_

Blushing at the implications of that, Sam continued, "Lust spells are usually tied to a specific person, but there is a variant that makes the cursed go horny for everything around them."

"_That is Dean's state of mind right now. __Please continue._"

Fortunately the countercurse only needed a simple incantation and the burning of some herbs. When Castiel hung up, Sam tossed the phone aside and sat back in his chair with a sigh of relief.

"Sam?"

"Yeah Baby?" he called out, finally able to grant her his undivided attention.

"What's C-L-I-M-A-X spell?"

"Climax."

The word slipped out before his brain caught up. His eyes went wide as Sam suddenly noticed a pattern in the words she'd been spelling out for the last half hour. "Baby, what are you reading back there?"

Baby stepped out from behind the bookshelves, a glossy magazine in her hands. "Nothing interesting," she admitted with an annoyed pucker of her lips. "The articles are really boring and the pictures are all of half-naked girls." She put the magazine on the table and pointed to a trio of words. "And I have no idea how to even pronounce this phrase."

"_Ménages à trois_," Sam said, too stunned to be embarrassed or hesitant. "Where did you get this?"

"Found it in Dean's room when I was looking for a comb. I used yours, by the way. Are they almost done their hunt?"

"No, it's going to be another few days - "

"Scrap." Leaving the magazine open on the table, she shook her head and said, "Then I'm going to see if Cas has anything interesting to read in his room."

Mouth hanging open, Sam stared down at the abandoned magazine. He recognized it as part of Dean's private stash of smut, and he narrowed his eyes angrily. "Dean, you're so dead when you get back," he promised his sibling with a growl. "I've told you not to leave your smut mags out where Baby can find them."

Two states away, a curse-free Dean felt a cold chill steal down his spine.

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**Review please!**


	5. Baby's First Friend

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural._**

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**Follow Polaris, My Friend**

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She found him sitting alone in the observatory late one night. He was staring through the telescope at the stars, so completely absorbed that he never heard her soft approaching footfalls. "Cas?"

The man jumped in his seat slightly, and startled blue eyes snapped over to her. "Baby," he said, regaining his usual stoic expression. "Are you unable to sleep?"

She shrugged. "The bed's a lot softer than asphalt and I'm used to sleeping standing up." Her eyes flicked up to the giant telescope and added, "I see you're not sleeping either."

"Not for my body's lack of demand for it."

That cemented Baby's suspicions. She had noticed several odd things about Castiel in the weeks since her transformation, and after hearing whispered conversations between Dean and Sam about "the Fall" and "Metatron" she could only assume that those events had something to do with Castiel's strange behaviors. "You're human now, aren't you," she whispered, more of a statement than a query.

His mouth twisted into a puckered grimace, and Castiel quickly returned to stargazing. "Yes. I am."

"Recently?"

"Two weeks before you turned human."

"May I ask how?"

"I was tricked." His tone was dark and full of self-loathing, something Baby could easily identify through years of hearing it in her boys' voices. "I thought I was doing good, and once more I was tricked into causing more pain."

"From what I've heard, it was Metatron who tricked you. You were working with the information he gave you because he could read the tablet. What reason would he have to lie?"

"He wanted solitude," Castiel said bitterly. "He wanted angels to solve their own problems. Now he has the whole of Heaven and there are no angels left."

About to respond, the Impala stopped. Clearly his guilt had been festering for weeks. A simple assurance wouldn't do anything here. Crossing her arms, Baby stomped over and shoved Castiel's shoulder, forcing him to look up from the telescope eyepiece and face her. "I still feel guilty about betraying Dean and Sammy to Adonis, you know."

He frowned in confusion. "But you were under his spell. You had no control over that."

"But my choices made it so Adonis could take them."

"But then you broke free of his thrall and saved them. You redeemed yourself."

"Doesn't mean the guilt is gone." Baby gave him a knowing look and added, "But that doesn't mean I have to let it drag me down."

Now Castiel gave her a look. "You are attempting to show me that I should also not blame myself."

"No, I think you should. Keeps you humble and teaches you that you're not infallible," Baby said. "What I'm saying is that maybe you can lighten up a little. So you're human, big deal. At least you're not dead."

He shook his head. "That would almost be preferable."

"But you can't make it right if you're dead." Crossing her arms, the girl tried to give a reassuring smile. Turning her eyes skyward, she pointed at the stars and said, "Do they all have names?"

The change in conversation clearly threw him for a moment. "They do, though not all are known to humans," Castiel admitted.

"Can you teach them to me? I've never really stargazed before."

A bemused expression crossed the dark-haired man's face as he quietly admitted, "Neither have I. There has never been an occasion to do so."

"Great. So we'll both have a little fun." Baby excitedly pulled up another stool to sit beside him, bending over to look in the eyepiece of the telescope. "What's that group right there? Looks like a little scoopy-thingy."

"Ursa Minor, the Smaller Bear, the Little Dipper," he recited. "The star at the end of the handle is Polaris, the brightest star in the constellation, and the current North Star." His tone changed, gaining a hint of warmth and the barest blush of a smile. "Everyone uses it to find their way."

"That little star?" she clarified, sitting up to stare at the sky with mouth slightly open in surprise. "Wow. That's a really important speck of light."

"It holds up under pressure." When a gentle pressure pushed against her shoulder, Baby looked over to see Castiel looking at her. "Why do you care?"

She didn't have to ask what he meant. "You and me, we're both new to the whole human condition. I figure if we're both willing to plow through it for similar reasons, at least we won't feel so alone."

Castiel sat up a little straighter on his stool. "And what reasons are those?"

"The standard ones. Saving people, hunting evil things, redeeming ourselves one hunt at a time." She shrugged. "You know, business as usual."

His smile was brief, a fleeting twitch of lips, but Baby caught it all the same. "Figuring out humanity won't be easy," he said.

"I think we're up for the challenge. And it's not like we're completely lost." One slim finger pointed to the sky. "We've got that trusty North Star to go by."

He cocked his head slightly. "You're being metaphorical, I assume."

"And this is why I like being friends with you, Cas," she quipped, leaning over to bump his shoulder with hers. "You have such interesting reactions."

"Friends." Castiel repeated the word softly, as if unsure how it sounded on his tongue. "We are friends."

"Of course we are." With a firm nod Baby leaned back down to peer into the telescope eyepiece. "Okay, what's the next constellation?"

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**Aww, a sweet angst-flavored Cas/Baby moment. I think they'll have quite the time learning about human experiences...**

**Review please!**


	6. Baby's First Phone

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural._**

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**A Shiny New Toy for Baby**

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She held the small device in her hands like it was an offering to some technological deity. "What's this?"

"A phone."

"But it's a brick. It doesn't flip open, there are no buttons or cords or anything."

Dean rolled his eyes. "It's an iPhone, Baby. You touch the screen to make calls." At her puzzled frown, he took the phone back and showed her the home screen. "Okay, first thing's first. The green one with the phone icon is how you make calls. You press it, then type in the number you want to call, and hit CALL." He demonstrated by typing in his own number. The shock in Baby's eyes when she heard his phone vibrating halfway across the room was hilarious. "See? That's my number. If you call me, I'll pick up."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Dean typed in another number and hit CALL. "Here. Hold it up to your ear and listen."

Baby held the phone to her ear like a child holds a conch shell at the beach, intently listening to the ringing. "Who am I - ?" she started to ask before hearing another familiar voice answer with a wary "_Hello?_"

"Sammy," Dean replied. "Now you have his number too."

"Hi Sammy!" Baby chirped happily. "Dean's teaching me how to use a phone!"

Watching her talk excitedly to Sam made Dean smile. He'd been doing that a lot recently, he noticed, ever since she returned to their lives. After all the crap that had been going on, it was nice to have a reason to smile.

He heard her hang up with Sam and looked down as she tugged his sleeve. "What's this one?" Baby asked, pointing to another icon. "Green with a white bubble. Messages?"

"You can send messages to other phones. It's called texting." Again he showed her how, using his own phone as a receiver. "I can text you back too, you know. Sometimes that's better than calling. There are other apps too."

"Apps?" she parroted, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"They're applications that can help or entertain you. Some are games, others are tools. There's a camera, notepad, flashlight, you can hold music on it - "

She suddenly swiped the phone back and curled up in her chair. "I wanna figure those out on my own," she stated.

"Okay." Dean couldn't help smiling again as he reached over and tussled her hair. "Have fun, Baby."

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He was heading back to his room when Sam's head poked out of the kitchen. "Dean, we can't keep distracting her like this."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Dude, I know."

"She's going to want to come on hunts with us." Sam leaned against the doorframe and wiped his hands on a dish cloth. "It's not a matter of if, but when."

"We still don't know how she turned human. What if it's part of a bigger plot to get to us?" Dean shook his head. "No. Until we figure out why she's walking and talking again, she doesn't leave the bunker."

The taller man gave his brother a look. "How long d'you think that'll work?"

"Until we figure out a better plan." He smirked and added, "Besides, I think the phone will keep her entertained for a good couple days."

"That's what we thought when I taught her how to use my computer."

"Yeah, but your computer didn't have Fruit Ninja or Angry Birds or Cat Physics on it."

Sam couldn't help whistling at that stroke of brilliance.

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**Review please!**


	7. Baby's First Anime

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural _or any animes mentioned here.**

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**Magical Girl Impala**

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Introducing Baby to the Internet had its ups and down. She gained a quick understanding of current events and how to research lore, but for the first time in probably ever, parental controls had to be put on Sam's laptop so that she wouldn't go on some of Dean's more questionable websites. Her curiosity knew no limits, and she eagerly surfed her way through the Web to learn everything she could.

Then she discovered television shows. Specifically, cartoons. Specifically...anime.

It was an entertaining day in the Men of Letters' bunker when a loud cry of "Moon Prism Power!" echoed through the hallways. Buried in his research, Sam smothered a laugh as Baby raced through the library in a makeshift Sailor Senshi costume while fighting invisible enemies. He watched for a few seconds before returning to his work, but he couldn't help glancing up occasionally as she continued to challenge enemies "in the name of the Moon".

A week after her Sailor Moon phase, Dean found a handmade pink baton with a gold star affixed to the top. The brothers then started finding handmade playing cards all over the place. Light, Dark, Firey, Jump, Float, Rain... each card had a different picture and title on one side, while on the backs was what seemed to be a pink magic circle featuring a star. The discovery only puzzled them more.

Then Baby started wearing her hair in a high ponytail and performing sleight-of-hand tricks for no apparent reason. She also started carrying a maroon top hat and pulled the strangest things out of it, from weapons to keys to a stuffed hedgehog toy, announcing each one by saying "One...Two...Three!"

Calling on Rayearth and dressing in armor with a sword, dressing like a spicy schoolgirl with three painted eggs she called 'charas', pirouetting across the bunker to classical ballet pieces... Every week brought a new obsession with it, then another took its place. At first the Winchesters were puzzled, but after some light research (and looking through Baby's browsing history) they found the one common link between them all.

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"What's with all the henshin sequences, Baby?"

Engrossed with spinning a mop like a baton, Baby didn't look over at Dean to reply, "What d'you mean?"

"You've been changing costumes faster than a Broadway extra. Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, St. Tail, Princess Tutu..." With each title Dean could almost feel the hits to his masculinity. "This whole magical girl phase you've been going through."

"Because..." She set the mop aside and faced her boys, hands defiantly on her hips. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm totally a magical girl."

"How you figure?"

She started ticking off her fingers. "I transform from my normal self into an alter ego - car to human. I can pull weapons out of nowhere. I've helped save the world and your asses not once, not twice, but three times. At least. And, I have a magical amulet that helps me transform."

"A magical amulet?" Sam repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." She reached inside her collar and pulled out Dean's brass amulet. "I figured this has something to do with it. Again, magic amulet."

"Okay." Sam pointed to the mop. "And what's that for?"

"Practice." She grabbed the mop again and took a stance they didn't recognize. "I'm seeing if I can do Witch Hunter."

"What's that?" Dean asked.

"It's a move from the anime I'm watching now. Soul Eater. I'm supposed to use a scythe, but this place doesn't have one in the armory."

Sam frowned. "That doesn't sound like a magical girl anime."

"It's not." She glanced back and flashed a grin. "She and her weapon partner hunt down evil souls and witches. Much more my style. Speaking of which, when am I gonna go hunting with you - "

Dean cut her off with a smooth, "I'm gonna see how Kevin's doing." He turned to leave, and Sam quickly followed suit, leaving Baby with a mop in her hands and a scowl on her face.

"Just because you walk away doesn't mean this conversation is over!" she shouted.

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**Review please!**


	8. Baby's First Accident(s)

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural_.**

* * *

**A Series of Unfortunate Magical Snafus**

* * *

Hearing an explosion was never a good thing, and especially when you're in a bunker previously occupied by a society that required unstable ingredients for their spellcraft. But Dean, long used to hearing his brother's attempts at learning alchemy and whatever else the Men of Letters' eggheads had found for magical use, just continued cleaning his pistol and listening to his record player.

So when the lowing sound of an animal echoed through the hall, Dean looked up from his gun and glanced at his open door. "Sam?" he called out.

A enormous brown muzzle poked around the door with a wet snuffle, followed by a very distinctive head and a pair of large brown eyes. It clopped forward, but its huge branching antlers wouldn't fit through the doorway. The animal grunted again and stomped a cloven hoof in irritation, butting his antlers against the doorframe.

"Holy crap," Dean whispered. "How the hell did - "

"Sammy, I said to stay!" Baby suddenly appeared and threw her arms around the animal's shaggy neck. "Come on, you gotta get back into the circle!"

"Baby? What's that doing - " Dean started before his brain finally made the correlation between the animal and what he'd heard Baby yell out. "Wait...THAT'S SAM?"

Baby gave him a wide-eyed look of guilt. "I can fix this, I swear!" she promised. Grabbing handfuls of brown fur, she yanked the large bull back down the hallway with several labored grunts from it and gasped curses from her.

Dean only gaped after her, stunned speechless that she'd managed to turn his brother into a moose.

* * *

When Sam woke up to tiny balls of paper pelting his face, he flopped over and tiredly mumbled, "Go away."

"Sammy! Wake up!" Another tiny paper ball hit the back of his head.

"No."

"Damn it Sam, wake up! I've been Ferngully'd!"

"What?" Sam asked, turning over and forcing his eyes to crack open. He couldn't see his brother standing beside his bed, but he did see something frantically jumping up and down on his nightstand. "What the absolute..._DEAN?_"

The four-inch-tall hunter cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted squeakily, "Baby's been Mythbusting through the Men of Letters' spellbooks again!"

"Ya think?" Now fully awake, Sam sat up in bed and looked around. "How the hell did you get up there?"

Dean put his hands on his hips. "I survived Purgatory for a whole year. Navigating a hallway and climbing the dresser wasn't nearly that dangerous," he proudly admitted.

Suddenly Sam's bedroom door was flung open to show a thoroughly harried-looking Baby. "Oh good, there he is!" She quickly came over and scooped up Dean in her cupped hands. "Oh god, I am so sorry!"

"Just get me back to normal size!" Dean yelped, looking up at the girl.

"I can do that!" she promised. "I can fix this, I swear! Just come with me!"

"Don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Baby left the room so fast it was almost NASCAR worthy, leaving Sam to gape at the fact that his older brother had been reduced to the size of a Happy Meal toy.

* * *

Kevin gaped unabashedly. "What the hell happened to you?"

The Winchesters exchanged looks and spoke in unison. "Baby." That made an enormous smile break across the prophet's tired face. Sam put his hands on his hips and glared at him. "Don't. You. Dare. Laugh."

Unfortunately, that just made Kevin double over laughing. Even their overlarge flannel shirts and too-big jeans didn't hide the fact that the macho Winchester hunters now sported the bodies of Victoria's Secret Angels. Sam now had long chestnut hair and a willowy figure, while Dean had a fuller figure and his dark hair was in a messy pixie cut.

"Just cuz I've got a rack now doesn't mean I can't kick your ass, Kev," Dean snarled. Except instead of his usual deep growl, he had a musical voice that Kevin couldn't take seriously. Green eyes flashed with anger. "Stop laughing, you little runt!"

"I thought you - hid all the - ingredients after - the invisibility thing - and the rainbow-hair debacle," Kevin panted, fighting to control himself.

Sam shrugged his thin shoulders. "Obviously she's getting creative in procuring her items."

"Whatever you say...Samantha." Kevin couldn't help sniggering as the taller Winchester shot him a death glare. "What? C'mon, that was funny."

"I'm going to kill you," threatened Dean.

"Oh please Deanna, in this state, I could totally take you both." Regaining his breath, Kevin looked around and asked, "Hey, where's Cas?"

"Here." A beautiful black-haired girl shuffled out from around a corner, Castiel's trademark trenchcoat belted tightly closed around her body. Sullen blue eyes regarded the prophet. "Call me Cassandra and I will end you."

Kevin lost it.

* * *

Baby slapped a hand to her forehead and swore a blue streak for almost two minutes. Then she quickly bolted for the door and locked it, turning around with her back against the steel slab as four incredibly pissed-off pairs of eyes glared up at her.

"I can fix it," she said, smiling weakly. Striding back over to the open spellbook, she quickly rearranged her ingredients and started mixing them in a large bowl. "Just give me a minute, okay? Stay right there."

The chocolate retriever immediately flopped to the ground and rested his head on his paws, staring up patiently with warm hazel eyes. The German Shepard scratched behind his ear and huffed, but green eyes met hers with complete trust. The blue-eyed black cat yawned, sat down, and started to clean himself. Only the scruffy black terrier puppy showed any fear, jumping around and yipping at the top of his tiny lungs.

"Calm down, Kevin!" Baby snapped nervously. "If there's anything I've learned so far, it's that I can fix what I messed up." She lit a match and held it over the bowl. "Hang on to your tails, boys."

And then she dropped the match.

* * *

**Moose!Sam, mini!Dean, genderbending and Team Free Will as animals...I had waaaaaay too much fun with this chapter.**

**Review please!**


	9. Baby's First New Language

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural, _but the OCs are mine.**

* * *

**A Quick and Deadly Exchange**

* * *

_This was supposed to be simple, _Dean thought as he watched their captor mull over his next choice of torture instrument. _Just a__ demon with a Spanish Inquisition kink. Nothing to worry about._

But no, not for Sam's first job back in the field. They had to run into a demon who knew how to subdue and restrain the Winchesters - they were tied on upright cruciform torture tables, immobilized with chains, stripped of every weapon with no chance of escape. Worse, it was actually an intelligent demon who knew exactly what he was doing. Even worse, this demon knew Dean from his short stint in Hell years prior.

"Dean Winchester," chuckled the demon in question, picking up a butcher's cleaver and testing the blade with his thumb. "Been a while since we've breathed the same smoke, eh?"

"See you've moved up in the world, Mitchell."

"Well, after you ganked Alastair a couple years back, there was a vacancy for Hell's grand torturer. As his last surviving apprentice, I made damn sure that I got the promotion."

"Congratulations," Dean growled as he glanced over at his brother. Sam had already fallen unconscious from pain and blood loss, but he wouldn't die. No, Mitchell was too good to let that happen. Alastair had taught them well, but Mitchell held a special love for prolonged torture. And he was very, very good at it.

"Speaking of Her Infernal Majesty...I'm likin' this new boss a lot." Black eyes flashed at Dean with a smirk. "When Abaddon told me that I could string up a whole town, I thought hey, fresh meat. But then she says that I'll be able to see my old buddy Dean Winchester after soooo long...She gives great Christmas bonuses." The smirk widened into a ghastly smile. Picking up a wicked-looking pair of garden shears, he moved closer to Sam's table. "Wonder if Sasquatch will wake up if I start snipping out his innards?"

The threat brought out the darkness in Dean as his voice dropped to a bestial snarl. "You touch my brother and you'll _wish _it was Alastair still flaying your soul."

"Ooo, kinky," Mitchell cooed in a sickly sweet tone. "You always promise to do the dirtiest things."

Dean glared at the demon and drew as deep a breath as his cracked ribs would allow. _"Exorcizamus te, Omnis Immundus _- _"_

"AAAAAAnd no." Mitchell made a side zippering motion with one hand. Dean choked as his voice suddenly lodged in his throat. "No exorcising for you, Dean-o. I want to fully enjoy what's about to happen." Sam stirred, then opened bleary eyes in shock to see the shears poised to cut into his stomach. "Morning, precious," Mitchell simpered. "Ready to experience a new level of pain?"

Another voice snarked, "You like pain, douchebag?" before someone shot Mitchell in the shoulder. He howled in agony as the skin around the wound started to blister and burn. "Have an iron bullet on me." Dean and Sam looked over to see Baby saunter into the room holding a gun, followed by a nauseated-looking Castiel.

"Baby?" Sam gasped. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Being a big damn hero, that's what. As I've heard said when reinforcements arrive to save the day - " She grandly spread her arms wide and cheekily announced, "Ta-da!"

"Reinforcements?" Mitchell grinned as his eyes shamelessly roved over her body. "More like a meatsuit upgrade. Mind if I snuggle with ya, sweetie?" He threw back his head and yawned, but no black smoke emerged. "Bitch!" he screamed, flashing black eyes at Baby with hate. "What did you do to me?"

"Oh, didn't I mention the devil's trap scratched into the bullet?" she innocently asked. "I want you to stick around for a bit. I've been practicing for weeks." Baby took a deep breath and started speaking in a controlled, level voice. _"Exorcizamus te, Omnis Immundus Spiritus, Omnis Satanica_ _Potestas - _"

Mitchell looked almost bored as he made the same silencing motion he'd used on Dean. When Baby didn't stop chanting, the demon's face twisted into an expression of pure horror. With a yell he lunged for Baby with his cleaver. She easily sidestepped and put distance between them, still chanting, "_Omnis Incursio Infernalis Adversarii - "_

"Stop it!" Mitchell screamed. He threw the cleaver at her head, but Baby was able to duck so the blade buried itself in the wall behind her. He grabbed up more knives and torture implements to throw, but thanks to his injured shoulder she managed to evade every one. It was like watching a dancing knife-throwing act, except Mitchell was actually trying to kill his lovely assistant before she finished the exorcism.

"_Omnis Congregatio et Secta Diabolica - _"

He ran out of knives before she ran out of words. Realizing that he was out of options, Mitchell looked helplessly at the Winchesters. "You can't let her send me back! Abaddon will slaughter me!"

"Can't really scare up a care," Sam chuckled hoarsely. "You, Dean?" Dean shook his head with a vindictive smile. "Didn't think so."

_"Ergo Draco Maledicte, Ut Ecclesiam Tuam Secura - _"

"I'll come back!" Mitchell swore. "Even if you send me down into the Pit, I'll only crawl back up! I'll remember you, dearie," he promised, leveling a finger at Baby, "and when I find you, I'll take great pleasure in ripping you apart, piece by pretty piece!"

"_Tibi Facias Libertate Servire, Te Rogamus, Audi Nos!" _was Baby's only reply. His host's head was thrown back as black smoke erupted from his mouth. "Sayonara, sucka," she snickered.

Dean's voice returned as soon as Mitchell's smoke disappeared. "What the hell are you two doing here?" he coughed.

"You were supposed to call in five hours ago." Baby produced a lockpick set and started fiddling with Sam's cuffs while Castiel worked on Dean's restraints. "When you didn't, Cas and I figured something went wrong, so we boosted a car and I drove." The cuffs popped open, and Baby hastily caught Sam before he crumpled to the ground. "Who was that guy?"

"Racked with me in Hell, couple years back." Dean wheezed in pain as Castiel's hand brushed cracked ribs and a still-bleeding series of cuts on his torso. "What the hell, Cas? Letting Baby go in alone like that? You suddenly forget how to fight?"

"She drives much like you do when evading law enforcement," Castiel said, looking a little green and dizzy. "I am still fighting the urge to vomit. Besides, she was in no danger."

"No danger? Mitchell was gonna - " He suddenly realized something. "He couldn't silence you. How's that possible?"

With a proud grin Baby held up her necklace. Hanging on the cord with the amulet was a piece of bone etched with a strange symbol. "Protection rune I found while searching for dragon tears," she explained. "Wards against demonic powers, or so the label said."

"And you recited the whole exorcism." Sam raked bloody strands of hair back from his bruised eyes to stare at Baby in shock. "From memory. Without messing up a single word."

She nodded with a smile. "That's right."

"How the hell do you know Latin?"

She pointed to the still-pale Castiel. "Cas taught me."

"Cas taught you Latin?" Dean repeated. "Why?"

"You leave me in the bunker all the time, so after I read everything in English I got him to teach me other languages. I can read and speak Latin, Gaelic, Persian, a little Atlantean, and some Greek and Japanese. I know a little Enochian too, but I'm not supposed to speak Enochian aloud unless everything else fails." At the stupefied looks from the brothers, Baby shrugged and softly added, "I didn't want to be useless when I finally go on hunts with you guys."

"You're not coming on hunts with us," snapped Dean. "No way."

"But I just saved your - "

"End of discussion, Baby."

Visibly hurt by his harsh tone, Baby dropped her gaze to stare at the floor. An awkward silence ensued until Castiel wisely suggested they leave and dress their injuries. Loading the brothers in the backseat, Baby sat shotgun and Castiel drove them all back to the motel.

She didn't speak to any of them for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Okay, now there will be some more action coming up.**

**Review please!**


	10. Baby's First Tantrum

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural_.**

* * *

**Keep Calm and Run Away From Home**

* * *

Even when she'd been a car, Baby always prided herself on keeping a level head. After everything she'd been through with the Winchesters, what with being possessed, abandoned for days, put in lockdown for almost a year, that solid grasp on her temper had grown to almost saintly proportions.

But their refusal to let her hunt with them was testing her patience.

Sure, it hadn't been a good idea to blindly rush into the building where Mitchell had been keeping Sam and Dean, but it wasn't as if she'd gone in alone. Even slightly nauseated, Castiel had her back and an angel blade up his sleeve. Not only that, but he'd made her practice that Latin exorcism until she could recite it backwards and sideways and every other which way. Armed with that and the protection rune, Baby had been far from helpless when she squared off with Mitchell.

Not that anybody had cared. Instead of praise for her mastery of Latin and thanks for saving them, Sam and Dean had scolded her for being reckless and forbidden her from leaving the bunker again. Baby paced the cold floor of her sparsely decorated room as she tried to understand why she was being punished.

She wasn't useless. Nor was she as ignorant of human behavior as before. In fact, Baby almost believed herself able to interact with other humans without drawing unwanted attention. Not even Castiel could claim that. Sure, being human had its drawbacks, but she'd learned how to adapt.

_So why won't they let me help? _Baby crossed her arms and fell back on her bed to scowl at the ceiling. The more she tried to understand, the angrier she found herself becoming. She threw her arms wide and grabbed fistfuls of her bedsheet, clenching the fabric hard enough to bleach her knuckles bone-white. _Why confine me in the bunker?_

A little voice in her head softly said, _Because they think you can't hack it_.

The thought made her sit straight up in shock. It was a horrible conclusion to settle on - she knew her boys loved her dearly, both as their home and as her own person - but as she continued to think about it, the more she realized it to be true. They still didn't know how she came to be human again, and unknowns frequently came back to bite them in the ass.

But instead of teaching her how to survive as a hunter, they shut her away with distracting things like Internet and alchemy spellbooks and a fully-loaded armory. Sam and Dean probably figured that if they kept her entertained long enough, she'd never think of leaving.

_Well, they're dead wrong_. Her legendary patience broke like sugar glass, letting a hot flood of rage swamp her senses. Letting that anger take over, she jumped to her feet and began stuffing clothes in a small duffel bag. Her teeth clenched painfully and her eyes prickled with hot tears, but aside from a single punch to her pillow she kept her focus on the task at hand.

Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she picked up her boots and her protection rune, then tiptoed out her bedroom door. Luckily this was one of the nights Castiel was forced to sleep, so nobody in the bunker was awake to catch her. Baby rifled through Sam's wallet for cash, pocketed a decent blade and pistol just in case, and scrawled a short note to Dean that she left taped to his bedroom door. A single tome on basic protection and warding spells was stuffed in her bag on the way out the front door.

Once she heard the lock click shut behind her, Baby checked the stars' positions, then her watch. The luminous dial showed that it was almost three AM, meaning she could be miles away before anyone woke up. _I'll show them, _she thought, scowling at the bunker one last time. _I'll show them __I'm not going to sit here like some helpless princess. I'll prove to them that I'm just as capable as any_ human_ hunter. As any _Winchester_._

Turning sharply on one heel, Baby headed down the road with a confident stride and a fierce light in her eyes. The darkness swallowed her in seconds.

* * *

**I can just imagine the end music being "These Boots are Made for Walking" by Nancy Sinatra.**

**Review please!**


	11. Baby's First Sleepover

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural_.**

* * *

**Random Encounter**

* * *

Charlie saw the girl walking down the street ahead of her around noon. Black leather jacket, black jeans, black duffel over her shoulder, scuffed boots, and wild black hair. But it wasn't her attire, or general aura of "don't mess with me" that caught and kept the hacker's attention focused on her.

It was the way she walked. Charlie knew that walk. She'd taught herself to take those same steps after her first few months on the street. It was the brisk walk of a person who wasn't about to show the world her weakness. Tightening her grip on her grocery bag, Charlie picked up her pace to come up to the girl. "Hey there," she said brightly. "You new in town?"

"Just came in." Silvery eyes looked up at Charlie, beautiful and haunted and just a little tired, but wary nonetheless. "I'm doing all right."

"What's your name?"

"Ba - Paula." The reply was unrehearsed, the slip unintentional. Clearly the girl hadn't practiced her lie enough. "I'm Paula."

Purposely ignoring the slip-up, Charlie shook her hand. "I'm Charlie."

"Charlie?" She gave Charlie a strange gaze, eyebrows slightly furrowed as if in thought. "Dean talked about you... Charlie Bradbury?"

That admission told Charlie a number of things. The girl knew Dean, and since she knew Dean wouldn't willingly give up Charlie's name, that meant this girl had to be something supernatural. Her mind started going through every possibility, from shapeshifter to Leviathan to demon to siren (because now that she was looking, the girl was actually really quite a looker). A plan came to mind quickly enough, so Charlie acted on it.

"Well Paula," she said with a winning smile, "I've got a couch you can crash on for a couple hours, if you're only passing through. And some food."

As soon as they crossed the threshold of Charlie's apartment, the hacker dropped her bag on the wall bureau and grabbed the salt shaker and squeeze bottle of holy water. Paula yelped as Charlie threw salt in her face and squirted her with the squeeze bottle, cursing as they stung her eyes, but her skin didn't blister or burn. Undaunted, Charlie grabbed the iron poker by the door and raised it threateningly. "Not another step!"

"Cool your engine! I'm not a demon, Charlie!"

"Well you're definitely not human," Charlie said, not lowering her poker. "What are you?"

"I'm Baby." Coughing and spitting, the girl wiped her eyes clear of liquid and clarified, "Dean Winchester's Impala."

"Bullshit."

"I can prove it." Turning around, she shucked off her jacket and pulled up her shirt hem to reveal the small of her back. "My license plate should be right there. CNK 80Q3."

Charlie knew that, and when she saw the numbers, she knew it was legit. Sure, she'd come across some _Supernatural _fans (weird people, not that she could talk) with the same tattoo, but this one looked more like a birthmark. She lowered her weapon warily. "Say you are the Impala. Did Dean Transfigure you or is it somebody else's handiwork?"

The Impala gave her a clueless look. "Transfigure? What's that?"

"Hogwarts course? _Harry Potter_?" When there was no response to either, Charlie whistled. "Geez, what did they do, hide you under a rock?"

Baby scowled, averting her eyes to glare at the floor. "Pretty much."

_Clearly there's a story here. _But Charlie knew she wouldn't get anywhere being tough. Baby was probably as prickly and defensive as Dean was. So instead she said, "Sorry about the salt and water bath. Can't be too careful."

"I understand," Baby said, now ruffling her hair into some semblance of order. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"You're a long way from home." If she came from the bunker, over nine hundred miles away from home. "Dean know where you are?"

"No." A hard look made Baby's eyes glitter like diamonds. "But I'm not going back. And I'm not gonna call. I said I wouldn't unless I was ready, and you can't make me."

_Yup, just like her owner. _Charlie held up her hands in a pacifying motion. "I get it, and I wouldn't make you. I just wanna know what made you run from Kansas to here."

Baby dropped down into a chair and proceeded to tell the redhead about the encounter with Mitchell, how the boys forbade her from leaving the bunker, and her subsequent skipping out. Charlie listened and nodded at the appropriate times, secretly impressed with the girl's command of the exorcism and her temper in such a situation. After Baby finished, she raked her hair back and added, "I guess I shouldn't have run away, but I was so angry and I didn't know how else to make my point." Silver eyes looked up at Charlie anxiously. "You won't tell them I'm here, will you?"

"Not right now, no." In fact, Charlie sort of agreed with her. It sounded like the Winchesters had totally overreacted, but it was clear that it was because they had been scared for Baby. She explained it and added, "You understand that, right?"

"Yeeeaaah..." Now Baby looked guilty and ashamed, but her determination didn't wane. "But I won't go back."

"So stay with me." Baby gave her a surprised look, and Charlie nodded excitedly. "Trust me, it'll be fun. We'll get you some real-world experience, level you up so you can mingle with the mundanes. Girls' week. But first things first." Walking over to her entertainment center, she pulled out a handful of DVDs and displayed the titles. "Harry Potter marathon, then LotR. We need to start this slumber party right and get you some geek points."

"I have no idea what you just said, but it sounds like fun," Baby confessed.

* * *

**And now Charlie joins the fun!**

**Review please!**


	12. Baby's First Sleepover Pt 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural._**

* * *

**Use Lifeline: Call a Friend**

* * *

Dean woke up and found Baby's note tacked on his door. It was short and curt, three sentences.

_Gone to prove myself. I'll call when I'm ready. No worries Cas, I've got my protection rune._

The brothers lost sleep, took no new cases, and secluded themselves in the bunker. Sam used every tracking spell the Men of Letters had recorded trying to find her. Dean trolled through as much security footage as possible and frantically searched the surrounding towns for any sign of a black-haired girl with silver eyes and found no trace.

Four days passed without a hint of her whereabouts. Apparently the protection rune she took shielded her from tracking spells. She'd avoided the nearby gas stations and the truck stop, so nobody could definitely say they'd seen anyone fitting her description.

Castiel didn't lift a finger help them. Instead he kept to himself, reading and trying his hand at human activities like cooking. "She is fine," he insisted. "She is merely seeing what she is capable of." It was like he didn't care about Baby's safety, something Dean couldn't understand. But then again, there were still things about the ex-angel that still confused the crap out of Dean.

After a week with no leads, Dean finally decided to call in reinforcements.

* * *

"_You better have a good reason for disturbing __Galadriel's big Ring speech, bucko._"

"Charlie, hi. You busy?"

"_Not particularly._" Her voice changed to a concerned tone. "_Something wrong? Is Sam okay?_"

Sam reached over and plucked the phone from Dean, turning on speakerphone. "I'm fine, Charlie. We just need your help."

"_With?_"

Dean took the phone back. "We're looking for a girl - "

"_You want me to pick up chicks for you guys? Geez man, that's not really a good idea..._"

"Charlie!" Dean snapped angrily, losing what patience he had left. "This is serious. Please."

"_Okay okay, calm down. Hang on..._" From the sounds coming from the speaker, Charlie was already firing up her computer. "_Why am I looking for this girl anyway?_"

"She's...family," Sam said with a quick glance at Dean. "And she ran away four days ago. We can't find her our way, so we're hoping you can."

"_Description?_"

"Five-six, about a buck-thirty, slender. Wild black hair, silver eyes."

"_Age?_"

Sam winced. "Forty-six, but she'll look like she's in her late twenties."

"_Name?_"

"She might be using the name Paula Campbell." He bit his lip, sighed, and said, "but she's Baby to us."

The sound of keystrokes halted. "_Mind running that one again?_"

"She doesn't have real ID," Dean continued seamlessly. "You're gonna need to be creative about finding her. If you come across her, she'll respond to Baby."

Charlie's voice softened again. "_You sound a little off. And tired_."

"I haven't slept much in the last four days." He pinched the bridge of his nose and added, "Charlie, I just don't know where she could've gone. If something's happened to her, I'll never..."

"_Hey, calm down_," said the hacker gently as Sam rested a hand on his brother's shoulder. "_I'll get on it right now. I've still got some programs that'll let me peep through security cameras...Give me a day, thirty-six hours tops. I'll call you when I find something._"

* * *

Charlie hung up and looked to the girl curled up on her sofa. "They sounded real worried about you, Baby."

"They're pissed because I ran off and they can't find me themselves." Sipping her hot chocolate, Baby resolutely stared at the television where Galadriel's face was frozen in a terrible expression of darkness and beauty. She set her mug down on the table and grabbed the remote. "Can we watch the movie now? I wanna see if she jacks the Ring from Frodo."

Charlie puckered her lips and gave Baby a look. "You can't leave them thinking the worst. It's bordering on torture, and you don't seem to be a cruel person."

"I'll call them. I will," Baby insisted. "Just...not today."

Knowing she wouldn't get a better answer than that, Charlie changed the subject. "I'm thinking tomorrow we go out and get you some new threads. Lots of denim and leather tends to make you stick out. Doesn't really sell the Fed angle."

"Last time I was their consultant," was Baby's proud response.

"Consultants don't always get everywhere." Charlie grinned. "Trust me, being a well-dressed Fed will open doors for you. All you need are three pairs of slacks and matching jackets."

"Really?"

"That's what the djinn I asked said." At Baby's confused look she added, "Yeah, I got fashion advice from a monster. Long story. Let's start up the movie again, shall we?"

* * *

**Review please!**


	13. Baby's First Phone Call

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural_.**

* * *

**Two Can Keep A Secret**

* * *

Castiel was researching in the library when Dean's cell phone rang late the next night. He spared a glance at the hunter's slumped form in a nearby armchair and picked up the phone, carrying it to another room before answering. "Hello."

"_C__as?_"

"Hello Baby," he said softly, going into the observatory so that nobody passing would hear him.

"_But this is Dean's number. I know I dialed Dean's number. Why did you answer?_" Panic mounted in her voice. "_Oh God, is Dean - _"

"Dean is unharmed, but he is asleep now. He and Sam have been running themselves ragged searching for you." He didn't mean to sound accusatory, and added, "But they have not taken any cases since you left, so they have not been in any danger. I presume you are still with Charlie?"

"_Okay, how'd you know that?_"

"This is her caller ID. Are you still in Michigan?"

"_Yeah._"

"I must admit, I did not expect you to run nine hundred miles cross-country."

"_Me neither. I just picked a direction and ran as far as I could. Are they..._" Castiel heard her swallow and her voice grew anxious. "_Are they mad at me?_"

"They are more concerned than angry."

"_They? Not you?_"

"Not me," Castiel confirmed. "How has your time away been?"

"_Being with Charlie is fun, and I'm learning so much._"

"Human things." Castiel understood. While they were first-rate hunters, Sam and Dean were nothing near the norm of humans. From what he'd heard of Charlie, she wasn't normal either, but a great deal more attuned to regular human life than the brothers. "Anything specific?"

"_We went to something called a shopping mall, spent hours there just people-watching. __I_ _got 'new threads' to help me blend in, and tomorrow Charlie's going to take me out and get new shoes_. _She insists I need at leave five pairs._ _I do not understand women's fascination with shoes._"

"You are not alone."

"_So? You gonna tell them I called?_"

"Do you want me to?"

Baby hesitated. _"Not yet. I think I've got a lock on a case nearby. If it's a real threat, I'll call for help._"

"Understood."

"_Cas?_"

Castiel paused, his thumb hovering over the END CALL button. "Yes Baby?"

"_Thank you_."

"For what?" he asked, puzzled. "I haven't done anything."

"_Exactly. __If you wanted to, you would've cast that find-all spell you and I found weeks ago. But you didn't, and you didn't tell Dean and Sam about it._"

Phrasing his answer took a moment, but Castiel managed to speak without making it sound, in Dean's words, like a chick-flick moment. "That is because you and I share more with each other than the Winchesters do. We are still exploring our new human status, and the only way to do that is to experience it. You are merely experiencing it very far from home and without their supervision." He paused again, thinking about his next words, and added, "I trust you to take care of yourself, Baby. You are not helpless. I have made sure of that."

She was silent for a few minutes. When she spoke again, it sounded like she was controlling her voice. "_Th-Thanks for that, Cas. I really appreciate it._"

"It is the truth."

"_Take the compliment, won't you? Geez._" Baby giggled softly. "_Maybe when I get back I can start teaching you some communication skills._"

A smile tugged at the side of Castiel's mouth. "I would be open to that idea."

"_Well, I'm gonna try this sleeping thing again. Good night, Castiel._"

"Good night, Baby."

* * *

**Next up, a little adrenaline rush! Stay tuned!**

**And review! I love reading them!**


	14. Baby's First Shootout

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural. _I found the town of Three Rivers on Google maps, so there is no ownership there either.**

* * *

**Roll Up to the Hunt Like What Up, I Got a Big Gun**

* * *

"How's your ammo?" Charlie shouted.

"Six shells left." Pumping her shotgun's action, Baby took careful aim and shot the zombie shuffling towards her in the head. Blood and brain matter spattered all over the ground as it crumpled in place. "Make that four."

"You told them where we were, right?"

"Of course!"

The case she'd mentioned to Castiel had merit; zombies were roaming the streets of Three Rivers, Michigan, and they were starving for live flesh. She and Charlie had headed there the day before, and once they set up base camp, Baby had called the Winchesters. After letting them chew her out for running away and swearing that she wouldn't fight the zombies alone, Baby and Charlie snuck into the cemetery and identify what kind of reanimation they were actually dealing with.

But with typical Winchester luck, the simple recon mission went sideways when a mass of snarling zombies with the collective intelligence of a herd of flesh-eating cattle descended upon the cemetery, cutting off all escape.

"So why aren't those guys here yet?" yelled the town sheriff as he emptied his revolver of spent casings and slotted in fresh bullets. Dill Fairview had caught the two women poking around the cemetery and was about to arrest them when the zombies attacked. Now uneasy allies, he was trying to cover them as they reloaded.

"I don't friggin' know!" When Baby's shotgun clicked empty, she cursed under her breath and grabbed the barrel to swing it like a club, smashing the nearest zombie's head like a watermelon. "It's only a twelve-hour hard ride from the Batcave, they should've been here by now! _I'd_ be here by now!" she yelled, teeing off on another zombie.

Charlie blasted away another group of zombies that were coming from the opposite direction. "We need a better defensive position!"

"Head for the gates!" Dill shouted. "My pickup's out there. We can gun it for the station."

"Run. I'll cover you both," Baby said.

"With what?!"

In response she reached into the back pockets of her jeans and yanked out a pair of .45 handguns, dropping the nearest zombies with a bullet to the brain each. Charlie and Dill took off like deer, leaving Baby to slowly back away from the undead stalking closer. She was careful to conserve ammunition and drop each zombie efficiently, but she could tell that it was a hopeless attempt. She just didn't have enough firepower in her trunk to combat the numbers.

A feminine scream pierced the night air. Shooting two more zombies, Baby bolted towards the cemetery entrance and saw Charlie trapped in the pickup's cab, leaning away from the grasping fingers of the zombie reaching through the half-open window. Baby dropped her empty gun and yanked out a large blade, hacking the monster to pieces. Blood flew in arcs of crimson red to spatter wetly on the concrete and fill the air with its coppery tang.

Then she heard the most ridiculous high-pitched honk in her life. Disbelief made her look away from the zombies and down the road as a neon-green smart car skidded up to the cemetery gates. Sam and Dean pulled themselves out of the little car armed with shotguns, yelled for her to hit the dirt, and blasted the hordes away.

Once the gunfire ceased, Baby got up and gingerly stepped around the bodies of the fallen as she made a beeline for her boys. "Are you kidding me?" she asked. "Who the scrap rolls up to a zombie shoot in a damn baby car?"

"Our car _mysteriously _disappeared on us," Dean grumbled, stressing the word quite obviously, "and since we had to haul ass, we had to settle for the first car we found."

"Where's Cas? Don't tell me you left him behind."

"You see anyplace he could've squashed in? Like I said, we had to haul ass and save yours!"

Sam rolled his eyes as his big brother and Impala fell to bickering, then turned to Charlie as she approached. "Hey Charlie."

"Nice timing, Sam," she replied, emptying her gun cartridge. "We were about to get eaten alive."

"You sure took your sweet-ass time getting here." shouted the sheriff as he spat on the ground. "Now, you kids mind tellin' me what in the sam hill is goin' on here?"

"What does it matter? It's ov - " Dean stopped mid-shout as he noticed something. "Wait. Did you ever figure out which type of zombie you were up against?" he asked Baby.

"We came here to find that out, but we got ambushed. Why?"

But Dean had already glanced back at Sam. The younger Winchester gingerly dipped two fingers in a nearby pool of blood and rubbed it with his thumb. He brought it to his nose and hesitantly sniffed. "It smells a little like sulfur."

"Sulfur?" Baby reached out for a nearby puddle of red. "Why would zombie blood smell like sulfur?"

"Don't!" Dean yelled, yanking her hand back. "It's the Croatoan virus."

Sam blanched. "That's impossible. We blew that crap to kingdom come years ago." He looked at Charlie. "Are you cut anywhere? Scratch, papercut, anything?"

"It's blood-to-blood contact, right?" She was already patting herself down. "Nope. No open wounds, I'm good."

"Yeah," Dean said, rising to his feet. "But we should salt and burn everything here just to be - "

Dill suddenly screamed bloody murder and tackled Dean to the ground, his eyes crazed and a piece of sharp rock in his hand. The elder Winchester gave his own surprised shout as he struggled against the infected man. Sam pulled Charlie back out of the way as he drew his gun and pulled the trigger. Empty clicks - he was out of ammo.

"Dean!" Drawing her knife, Baby lunged for Dill and knocked him off Dean and flat on his back. Dill screamed and brought his stone around to tear the flesh on her left side. Baby yelled and lashed out with her own knife. Blind luck let her slice his neck wide open, and he expired with a wet, rattling gasp.

She watched the light fade from his eyes, then scrambled back to her feet and tried to stop the bleeding with her free hand. _Dammit, he cut something vital_, she realized when the world suddenly went fuzzy.

Dean's hesitant call of "Baby?" made her look back at him, Sam, and Charlie, who were frozen like waxwork statues with horrified expressions. Her heartbeat was pounding like a bass drum in her chest. It felt like the entire world was slowing down around her...

And then, quite suddenly, it stopped dead. Nothing moved, not wind nor land nor the three humans around her. _Time stop_, she thought with dread. _Something's coming. Something bad_.

"Hello there," said a cool female voice from behind her.

Spinning around, Baby brandished her knife at the new arrival. Short black hair, dark eyes, pale skin, clothed in black, she was quite a beautiful woman - and she was exuding a powerful aura unfamiliar to the Impala. "Who the hell are you?" she fired right back, manners abandoned in exchange for bravado.

"Do not be afraid." The woman gave a smile that was a poor attempt at calming. "My name is Tessa."

* * *

**Good God I miss Tessa, so I've decided to bring her back! Sorry for the long wait!**

**Review please!**


	15. Baby's First Brush with Death

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural_.**

* * *

**Don't Fear the Reaper**

* * *

**Previously on _Supernatural..._**

_"My name is Tessa._"

* * *

Baby felt her fluids run cold when she recognized the name. Dean had mentioned her in passing years before, when he'd been trying to cut a deal with Death to return Sammy's soul. "You're here for Dean."

The Reaper scoffed. "Please. I have better things to do than hang around waiting for him to actually stay dead. I'm here for Dilbert "Dill" Fairview, sheriff of Three Rivers, dead at ten-thirty-seven P.M. by a severed trachea." She walked over to Dill's corpse and touched its shoulder.

Baby blinked in shock when she saw Dill sit up and stand over his own corpse. He stared at his own wide-eyed expression like it was the most horrifying thing he'd ever seen. Which, Baby realized, was probably true. He looked up at the two women and said, "Am I...am I dead?"

"Yes," Tessa said professionally. "I'm here to take you to the other side."

"Are you an angel?" Wisely she didn't answer, so Dill turned his attention to Baby. "But you - you killed me, didn't you?"

Swallowing, Baby dropped her gaze to stare at the ground. "I'm sorry, Dill."

"Don't be." Her eyes widened as she watched Dill shrug his shoulders, like she'd apologized for throwing out a dish towel he'd been using. "I was infected, right? I would've killed you and the others if you hadn't. Fortunes of war, right? At least I didn't turn into one of those - things." He shuddered with revulsion at the thought, so Baby didn't have the heart to correct him.

Tessa cleared her throat to bring attention back to her. "Time to go now, Dilbert."

Dill nodded grimly and stepped over his corpse to join Tessa. Baby watched him disappear in midair, then met Tessa's gaze. The pretty Reaper was watching her with a strangely penetrating stare. Feeling awkward and weak from blood loss, Baby broke the staring contest first. "Spit it out then."

"It's just odd that you're not affected by the time stop."

Caution had Baby holding her tongue. All the lore on Reapers spoke of their loyalty to their jobs and the order of life and death. If she admitted to being an unborn soul bound to the chassis of a Chevrolet Impala, Tessa could take that as a confirmation of death and reap her. So she said, "I'm with the Winchesters. Odd follows them around like stink on a warthog."

"That it does." She checked her watch, then sighed. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"You'll be bleeding out in the next minute. Are you ready to move on?"

"Um...no."_ I'd better think of a way out and fast_. Although the Reaper couldn't force her to go, if her soul was reaped, Baby was in trouble. Not even Dean and Sam could convince a Reaper to give up its charge.

Blood loss was making her woozy, but she just pressed her hand tighter against the gash and thought through the haze._ C'mon, think! Reapers follow a natural order. Reapers reap souls from living things...living things...That's it!_

Praying that her mad idea worked, Baby lifted her knife high and turned the blade towards herself. Tessa watched with mild interest but made no attempt to stop her. "What are you doing?"

"You can't reap what isn't alive," Baby grunted. "And I can't be reaped if I'm not a living thing."

"So your brilliant plan is to kill yourself?"

Baby's snarky grin reminded the Reaper uncomfortably of Dean Winchester's. "Who said I'm gonna kill myself?"

* * *

For Sam, barely two seconds passed. He watched Baby straddle Dill and stab him through the heart, saving Dean's life. He watched her stand again with a hand pressed against the wound in her side. Blood welled through her fingers, staining fabric and skin a bright crimson red. She turned back to the hunters just as Dean and Charlie started toward her side, a look of shock on her face.

Then something changed in an eye-blink. Baby paled noticeably, and there was a smugness about her that a person with a bleeding side wound shouldn't have. Not to mention something was hanging from her left hand...

"I'm okay," she assured them. "Had to stop Tessa from reaping me."

"Tessa?" Dean repeated. "Tessa-the-Reaper Tessa? She's here? Why?"

"For Dill, but I'm dying too." Her words made Dean's jaw drop. "Only way to keep my soul was to not be living. Tell Cas he has to charge the - "

Whatever she was going to say was lost when her voice gave out. A bright, blinding light suddenly burst from her body, forcing the Winchesters and Charlie to shield their eyes and flinch back. When the light faded away, only a black Chevy Impala stood amid the carnage. Black oil leaked from her undercarriage and mixed with the blood already soaking the earth. Beside the front left tire lay Dean's amulet necklace, the cord sliced clean in two.

Charlie spoke first. "What...just happened?" she croaked.

Sam picked up the necklace, rubbing blood and dirt off its brass surface. "The amulet helped her with her transformation," he said. "She must've taken it off so Tessa wouldn't reap her soul."

"So she's still alive." Dean walked over and rested a hand on her still-warm hood. "Baby's still in there?"

Sam could feel the guilt rolling off his brother's frame. "Her soul's safe, yeah. But I dunno if she can change back, man. We never figured out she turned human in the first place."

"What did she mean at the end?" asked Charlie. "Tell Cas to charge the what?"

Sam shook his head. "I wish I knew. We'll ask him when we get back home."

* * *

**Title borrowed from the Blue Oyster Cult song, which also played in a _Supernatural _episode featuring a Reaper. Anyone know it?**

**Review and stay tuned! I'm gonna try to put up the next chapter fairly soon.**


	16. Baby's First Time-out

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural._**

* * *

**This is Radio Nowhere, is There Anybody Alive Out There?**

* * *

Sam watched his brother furiously tinker under the Impala's hood with Def Leppard blasting from her speakers. After dropping Charlie off back home, the Winchesters had repaired Baby enough to get back to the Batcave. Castiel was waiting outside for them, and after hearing what had happened, promised to begin looking for any mention of a spell to change Baby back. After finding and repairing the cut line corresponding to the fatal injury in her side, Dean began to fix every tear, hiccup, and blemish on his precious car with the singlemindedness of a baby goat trying to plow through a brick wall.

And he talked to her all the time. A soft, steady flow of words, endearments, and questions aimed at the engine as if it'd talk back.

Sipping his tea (coffee still didn't sit well in his stomach and liquor was completely off the list for at least another two months) Sam reached up to roll the brass pendant at his throat between his fingers. Dean hadn't been able to bring himself to touch the necklace, so Sam simply fixed the cord and hung it around his neck for safekeeping.

"You should sit down, Sam." He turned to see Kevin pulling a chair up the bunker steps, a mug of coffee in his free hand. "You're looking pale."

"Thanks Kev," said the tall hunter, collapsing into the chair. Exhaustion almost pushed his brain to unconsciousness, but Sam stayed awake by sheer force of will.

"Still no change?" Sam shook his head. "Cas find anything out?"

"He said that since Baby's original injury would've killed her in her human form, her turning back into a car actually saved her life. Can't kill a car with a simple cut line." Noticing how Kevin didn't exactly look like the picture of health, he asked, "How's the tablet coming along?"

The prophet rubbed his red-rimmed eyes and yawned. "Slow, but hopeful. I've got a few leads on getting a line to Heaven." He glanced over at Dean's back and asked, "Has he been out here all morning?"

"Dude, I don't think he even came in last night," Sam confessed. "And I think it rained. He's going to get sick at this rate."

"But he doesn't care, does he?" Kevin said dryly. Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned against Sam's chair. "All he cares about is her."

Sam nodded in agreement. "He probably believes that if he can fix anything and everything even remotely wrong with Baby, she'll would change back."

"You don't?"

"It's been over a week. Besides, we were never sure how she stayed human in the first place." Sam noticed his brother's shoulders slump and stiffened. "Dean?" he called out. "Hey, you okay?"

The answer was apparent as Dean pitched sideways and collapsed on the asphalt. Kevin yelled Castiel's name as Sam ran as fast as he could to his brother's side. "Dean! Dean, answer me!"

Dean's green eyes could barely stay open for longer than a second. One hand reached up and grabbed at the pendant swinging from Sam's neck. "Baby..." he mumbled. "Baby..." His grip snapped the cord, and the necklace came off into his hand as Dean fell unconscious. Before Sam could grab it, the bauble bounced under the car.

"We gotta get him inside," Sam said as Castiel and Kevin knelt next to him. "Kev, help me out."

"What can I do?" Castiel asked, helping the two raise Dean to his feet and situate them to carry him in.

"Find the necklace."

* * *

Castiel watched Kevin and Sam carry Dean between them as they shuffled back into the bunker. Once the door swung shut with a dull crunch, he said. "They are inside."

The Impala's radio knob clicked on by itself, and static poured from the speakers before the dial spun to settle on a particular channel. "_This is not fair to them_," came Baby's voice, sounding tinny through the speakers. "_Especially to Dean. It's breaking his heart. Do you know how hard it's been not to talk back to him?_"

"It's for the best right now," Castiel replied. He leaned against the Impala's driver side door and glanced inside the empty cab. "This at least proves what we expected - the spell keeping you human is directly tied to the amulet."

"_So why haven't I turned back yet?_"

Holding up the pendant, Castiel said, "Because Sam was wearing it and because his life force is still so weak, it's nowhere near charged yet." He sighed. "I do not like lying to them either. But this is necessary to find out exactly what this spell is."

Baby's sigh was a crackling rush of static. "_Have you found anything out?_"

Castiel crossed his arms as he thought. "It's not heavenly or demonically empowered, and since you have no runes or spell markings on your chassis or body, I don't believe it to be a curse or dark magic. It's not divine either, so there are no gods involved."

"_Thank the Inventor for small miracles,_" she grumbled. Castiel gave her a questioning look. Apparently she noticed, because she quickly added, "_Hey, you've got your Creator, us cars have our Inventor. What else?_"

"The amulet doesn't seem to possess any type of identifying magic either, which is odd."

"_Meaning?_"

"Meaning that whatever has you ensorcelled is powerful enough to erase any trace of itself." And Castiel was not comfortable admitting that. An unknown force holding power over Baby was a potential risk to the Winchesters. "It means we have nothing useful to go on."

Baby gave another static-filled sigh. "_So you're out here still for what reason again?_"

"Because..." Castiel deftly knotted the broken cord and hung it around his neck. "I'm going to wear the pendant now. Hopefully this will facilitate your return to human form."

A note of hope entered her voice. "_Will that work?_"

"It should. And if not, I believe something else might happen."

"_What, exactly?_"

"I'll tell you if it works."

* * *

**Review please!**


	17. Baby's First Sick Day

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural._**

* * *

**Kitchen Sink Stew for the Hunter's Soul**

* * *

Dean had a bad headache and felt like his entire body was boiling. The feel of memory foam under his body told him that he was in his bed, but his eyelids were too heavy to tell much else. Sighing, Dean tried to remember how he got in bed. He'd been under Baby's hood, fixing the problem with her manifold, when his head suddenly blanked out. His body felt numb, as if he'd lost all sensation below his neck. He heard Sam yell something right before he dropped his wrench and pitched to the side...

_"Ah, you're awake."_

_That voice. _Forcing his eyes open. Dean looked at the figure standing in his doorway and saw - _No, _his mind rebelled. _Can't be. It's not possible._ "Just a dream," he mumbled. "You're just a dream."

She smiled as she approached his bedside, but said nothing. Safe in the knowledge that this was just a dream, Dean sighed and closed his eyes again. He heard her putter around his bed, fixing his bedsheets and tucking him in like a nervous mother. "What're you doing here?"

_"You're real sick, Dean. Sammy got worse after trying to take care of you."_ She reached over and touched his forehead with her fingertips. It felt like pieces of ice brushing over his hot skin._ "Kevin's tried to take care of you both, but he's too ill to do much now. Cas is working his best to help all three of you."_ A note of concern entered her voice. _"Do you not want me here?"_

"No, it's just - " A bout of coughs stopped him mid-denial. When they stopped, he tried again. "Usually I dream about Mom when I'm sick."

_"Dean, I'm - "_ Her words stopped as her body turned transparent and disappeared, like smoke in a fogbank. He barely formed the word, "Wait," before he slipped back into unconsciousness.

* * *

When Dean woke up again, something smelled absolutely amazing. _Aw __Sammy, you shouldn't have..._

_"Rise and shine, sleepyhead."_

He sighed. "You're back?" he mumbled as she set a loaded tray down on his bedside table. The smell, he discovered, came from one of two bowls on the tray. A smile touched his mouth as he recognized the smell as his dad's cure-all kitchen sink stew.

_"Of course. Where else would I be?" _She smiled at him. _"I made John's kitchen sink stew, extra cayenne pepper just how you like it."_

"Not hungry in dreams." Her voice sounded stronger than before, but Dean didn't think anything of it. At least this dream was pleasant, not one of his Purgatory memories or, God forbid, his Hell memories.

She rolled her eyes and dropped a washcloth in a bowl of water on his bedside. _"Can't get better if you don't eat, Dean."_

"I've - " His throat closed up on him. Dean chuckled weakly. "I've been thinking about you. A lot."

_"Oh?"_ she said, wringing out the washcloth. _"That so?"_

"The last song I was listening to, right before I checked out, it was - "

_"Def Leppard,"_ she finished. _"It was called Photograph, right?"_

He laughed again. "Of course you know, it's a dream." He flinched at the cool cloth she draped over his forehead. "I kept your photograph. It's next to Mom's."

_"You kept it?"_ She sounded surprised and a little touched. _"That was years ago. Why?"_

"Seriously?" He watched as she walked to his desk and picked up the glossy photograph, its edges worn from years tucked in back pockets and in her sun visor. "Because I missed you. I still do."

She glanced back at him and smiled, but it wasn't as vibrant as her smiles usually were. In fact, unless Dean missed his guess, she didn't look as solid as she'd been when she first walked in. _"You know I'm not really gone, right? Just like I wasn't gone after Valence."_

"But I can't find out what's wrong with you. I can't fix you."

She leaned down and pressed her lips to his cheek. They almost felt like they weren't there, just a puff of icy air. _"You need to be patient, Dean," _she whispered in his ear. _"I'll be back soon enough." _She stood up and looked at her empty palm, grimacing as if annoyed by what she did or didn't see. _"Get some sleep, Dean. And eat that stew, would you?"_

Before he could respond, she disappeared again.

* * *

When Sam woke up, he could hear lowered voices coming from his bedroom door. He strained his ears and managed to discern Castiel's low, throaty rasp saying, "I told you to be careful. Pushing yourself too far will expend too much energy. If you use more power than what you've stored, you might never regain your - "

"Cas?" Sam forced himself to sit up in his bed, scrunching his eyes shut against the pain and vertigo. "That you out there?"

Both voices ceased speaking, and the door was nudged open. Castiel stood with a laden tray in his hands, including a bowl of what smelled like John Winchester's kitchen sink stew. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Sam didn't respond. He was too focused on the woman standing next to Castiel. The temperature in his room dropped a few degrees. At the edge of his vision, his bedside lamp flickered. "Baby?"

"_Hey Sammy,_" said the apparition, smiling sheepishly. "_Don't shoot?_"

"But you're - you're not a gh - "

"_If we're going by the actual Hunter's Dictionary definition, then I am a ghost._" Baby wiggled her fingers at Sam. "_Boo._"

He frowned, looking from her to Cas and back. "But your soul's tied to the Impala."

"Actually, the spell on her has created a node of power that allows her soul to reside in the amulet," Castiel said, setting down the tray on Sam's desk. He hooked a finger beneath his shirt and pulled out the necklace to show Sam. "By wearing it myself, I am allowing Baby to leech off my life force and regain enough energy to transform back."

Sam nodded. His growing weakness now made sense. "So when I wore it for the last week - "

"_You weren't strong enough to handle the drain. I can probably regain full power in another day or two thanks to Cas,_" Baby said.

The dark-haired man shot her a dry look. "If you'd bother saving the energy instead of spending so much of it on manifesting enough to carry trays and touch things."

"_I'm not about to let Dean suffer through this alone,_" she snapped. Sam flinched as the air grew icy and his lamp's bulb flickered again. She took a breath and let it out slowly to regain control of her temper. "_But __I won't manifest beyond a visible form anymore, I promise. I want to be human again._"

Sam coughed weakly to cover the awkward silence. "You should tell Dean," he said to her. "He still blames himself."

"_He thinks he's dreaming of me, and he's not willing to think otherwise." _Baby shrugged, flashed a cheeky grin at Sam and added, "_Worry about yourself, or I'll go poltergeist on your ass._"

* * *

**Being a willful and stubborn sort of spirit, I can imagine Baby pushing all the limits to make sure her boys heal up right.**

**Review please!**


	18. Baby's First Sick Day Pt 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural._**

* * *

**Nothing a Good Meal and a Nap Can't Fix**

* * *

True to her word, Baby was ready to transform back two days later. When the amulet started glowing like a small beacon, Castiel hung the necklace from her rearview mirror and stepped back as golden light engulfed the Impala's black sides. The magic shrank the classic car to a considerably smaller size, and when the light faded away, a fully-clothed Baby lay facedown on the ground.

But despite having regained her human form, Baby was far from okay. Her skin was sallow and drawn over her bones, her once-bright eyes were dull, and she appeared just as weak and sick as Dean and Sam were. She was so weak that she could barely lift her head, and Castiel had to carry her back inside.

He had an explanation of course - it had to do with energy conversion and relocation of magical strength - but all Baby knew was that the needle had hit empty. She ordered him to get her to the kitchen, get her a bottle of whiskey, and keep the leftovers coming.

She ate with the speed and mannerisms of a ravenous pack of wolves in winter. Soon Castiel was cooking four different things at once to prevent her from eating raw food, and when she finished the whiskey, he had to go and fetch another bottle. In less than three hours she'd eaten everything in the bunker and drank her way through a case of liquor. It was actually quite impressive for someone her size.

Once she was full, Baby's eyes started fluttering like a child forcing herself to stay up for Santa. Yawning widely, she stumbled out of the kitchen and down the hallway to Dean's room. Castiel watched as she kicked off her shoes and climbed into bed with the sleeping hunter, falling asleep within seconds of snuggling next to him. With a soft grunt Dean threw an arm over her waist and pulled her close, like a child cuddling his teddy bear.

For several seconds, Castiel watched the pair sleep peacefully. Then he shut the bedroom door and headed back to the kitchen to clean up the mess of pots and pans and takeout containers.

* * *

After the first good sleep he'd had in days, Dean no longer had the throbbing headache and burning skin-feeling of being sick as a dog. For the first time in a very long time, he woke up safe and warm and very comfortable.

Then he saw the person curled up next him and tensed up. One hand immediately went for the knife hanging on the wall above his bed.

"Mmmm, calm down," mumbled the girl. Her hand reached to touch his raised forearm. "You're not dreaming or spellbound. It's really me."

The voice and the touch were the same, and now that he concentrated, he could smell well-worn leather and fresh air coming from her hair. But years of caution and distrust in everything had him whispering, "Prove it."

She sighed, snuggling deeper into his chest. "The night after John gave you the keys, you sat behind my wheel and said, "You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. And now you're mine." Then you patted my wheel and called me Baby for the first time."

He'd never told a soul about that, not even Sam. His hand dropped to his side again, then joined the one pulling Baby closer to his chest. "I thought I'd lost you again. What were you thinking?"

"Can we save the lecture for tomorrow? I promise I'll even look contrite," Baby muttered, already halfway back to sleep.

Dean couldn't argue with that logic; he was still sleepy himself. "You scared the crap out of me," he whispered into her hair.

"I'm sorry."

"Save it for after the reaming."

Her soft giggle warmed his heart. "You already planning it?"

"Baby, I've been fine-tuning it for the last couple days. It's awesome."

"Can't wait to hear it."

* * *

**Case chapter coming up next!**

**Review please!**


	19. Baby's First Job

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural._**

* * *

**Sins of the Child**

* * *

"Okay, the place is locked up so we have to improvise our entrances." Loading up his shotgun, Dean quickly outlined the plan he'd concocted on the drive up. "Sam, you and Cas take the south side and pick your way in through the back door. Baby and I will swing around the north side and find an open window."

The job was in at an abandoned orphanage, Queen's Hill Children's Home, that went up in flames almost three centuries prior. Almost twenty years ago, some historical society had seen fit to rebuild the building to its former glory and showcase it as a museum. Everything from old photographs to antique toys salvaged from the fire were displayed in glass cases for the public's viewing pleasure, and the furniture was recreated to precisely match pictures taken of the interior.

According to local lore, the fire had been started by Amelia Farmer, a girl with an alarmingly long list of adoptive families who suffered mysterious injuries while she was with them. Some argued that the girl was possessed by evil spirits, while others said she suffered from delusions and psychotic behavior. Either way, the legend ended the same way, with Amelia reportedly starting the infamous fire that burned Queen's Hill Children's Home to the ground with the children trapped in the basement, Amelia dead in the entryway, and the headmistress locked in the hall closet.

The Winchesters had been called in due to mysterious fires being set in different exhibits. Those who reported the fires also recalled seeing the ghost of a teenaged girl with pale eyes in the same room as the fire. Haunted museums were well and lovely, but a couple near-deaths by burning alive certainly weren't good for tourism.

"No alarm system, right?" Sam asked, checking his belt for salt and holy water.

Dean shook his head. "After all the fires this place has had, they only have the fire alarms set."

"And it is Amelia Farmer we are here to put to rest, yes?" Castiel glanced up at the house like a general planning to siege a castle.

"That's right. Easy as pie."

"Can we not jinx it?" Baby said sarcastically, chambering a round in her handgun. "You guys have an alarming habit of being surprised by whatever you're hunting." She stuck the gun in the waistband of her jeans and passed around extra clips. "Also, you guys seem to enjoy ringing Death's doorbell a little too much."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Let's just get in and gank the spirit without getting ourselves caught or killed, shall we?"

The four hunters split into pairs and circled the museum, searching for their respective ways in. Luckily a side window had been left unlocked, so Dean and Baby were able to slip inside without mishap. They came in to a side parlor, where photographs displayed the twenty-five unfortunate children who perished in the original fire, including Amanda Farmer. The headmistress had a protruding nose and an expression of discomfort on her face, like she was constipated.

Reading the description beneath the photo, Baby grimaced. "Says that the headmistress died in the closet Amelia locked her in. Burned alive. Bad way to go."

"Yeah, terrific. Where's the pendant thingy?" Dean whispered shortly. The entire place was eerily quiet, and in his long career as a hunter, silence inside a haunted building was never a good sign.

"According to the plans, in the second-floor bedroom on the west side," Baby replied. "Amelia's room."

"Let's get it and go."

The cameo was in the center of the little room under a glass case. The placard read that it was Amelia's inheritance from her grandmother, and it had been found in the ruins of the orphanage a few feet from her body. Soot was still smeared across the carved white profile, a reminder of its tragic history. Dean gently lifted the glass case up enough for Baby to reach in and snatch the necklace off the jewelry bust.

"Well that was easy," she quipped.

"Weren't you the one saying not to jinx it?"

"What crawled up your tail pipe and died?" A glimmer of white caught her eye, and she touched Dean's arm and pointed down the hallway.

Amelia Farmer looked exactly like the photograph on display. Her dress was ratty and slightly too small on her skinny frame, and her face and bare arms were smudged with soot. Pale blue eyes were wide with manic rage, and the skin on her hands looked as if they were glowing from within.

Hunter and Impala drew their weapons and fired. Amelia ghosted from side to side, avoiding the rounds and screeching, "_Get out! __Before everything burns, get out now!_" The pitch of her voice made Baby's teeth grind and her head hurt, but she kept firing. One bullet to hit Amelia's shoulder and made her screech again. "_Burn me and you all die! She'll finish what she started!_"

"She?" Dean repeated.

"_Beaky old bird__!_" screamed the ghost just before she flickered out of sight.

Running footsteps from the opposite direction announced the arrival of Sam and Castiel. "What happened?" Sam asked. "We heard screaming and gunshots..."

"Amelia made a surprise appearance. I've got the cameo, though." Baby patted her jacket pocket. "Do we know where she's buried?"

Castiel pointed out the southern windows. "Down the hill is a cemetery. She's reportedly buried near the treeline, far from the rest of the graves."

"So, what? Burn it with her body?" she asked.

"Just to be safe. You need backup in case Carrie comes back?" Dean asked, only half-nervous.

"Nope. I can handle it." Checking her handgun, she flashed a grin at the boys and took off. Dean replaced the glass case and was about to suggest that they head out after her when he noticed Castiel's intent expression.

"What is it, Cas?"

"I hear crying. Faint, as if far away...or far below." Castiel tilted his head slightly in thought. "Does this house still have a basement?"

"Yeah, but..." Sam frowned. "There's nobody in the house but us."

"But I hear someone crying." Castiel headed down the stairs, his trenchcoat flapping at his heels. Sam and Dean hurried to catch up with him. When the dark-haired man paused at the basement door, he didn't hesitate to go through it despite the Winchesters' shouts to hold up.

A group of pale-faced children scurried away from the stairs as he descended. None appeared older than thirteen years old, and all the ghosts showed signs of being burned alive. Several were missing patches of skin and hair, and many had their clothes blackened and charred by fire. "We're not going to hurt you," Castiel promised them, approaching the group cautiously. "Everything is going to be okay in a little while."

"_She's coming back,_" one little girl whimpered. Her dress was badly scorched at the hem and burns ran up both her arms and along one cheek. "_She said she'd come back if we made any noise..._"

"Don't worry about Amelia," Dean assured them as he joined Castiel. "Our friend is going to make sure she never hurts anyone again."

"_'__Melia di'n't do nuthin' bad!_" yelled a boy who looked about eight. "_She wa'n't even here when the fi'e sta'ted!_"

"_She tried to save us!_" another boy insisted.

"Save you?" Castiel frowned. "Then who locked you in the basement and set the fire?"

A hideous peal of laughter echoed through the air, sending the children cowering in the corner again. The door above them slammed shut, and there was a scraping sound like something heavy was being pushed in front of it. Sam threw himself against the door, but it didn't budge an inch.

Dean drew his gun and looked for the source of the laughter, but nothing was visible. "What the hell is going on?" he yelled.

That's when Castiel smelled smoke.

* * *

Finding Amelia's grave wasn't tough. Digging it up had been a lesson in conserving her energy, even with Baby's supernatural strength. Dumping salt and lighter fluid on it was child's play. It was only when Baby clicked her lighter on and made to drop the pendant in the open grave that everything went sideways.

"_No!_" The scream tore from the darkness as the lighter and cameo were psychically knocked out of Baby's hands. Baby pulled out her gun and aimed for the approaching spirit, but when she pulled the trigger, nothing happened. She was out of bullets.

But Amelia didn't attack. She stopped just across from her grave, eyes locked with Baby's and holding a huge amount of rage. Her form flickered as her hands glowed red-gold. "_This is what she wants!_" she screamed. "_She wants you to get rid of me! Then she can burn it all down again!_"

"She? Again?" Baby repeated, lowering her useless gun. "Are you saying someone else set the Queen's Hill fire?"

"_The beaky old bird._" Sanity returned to Amelia's pale eyes, slow as the rising tide. "_She hated kids all her miserable life. She beat 'em and starved 'em all the time._" The glow in her hands faded away, and she reached up to twist her pigtail. "_Couldn't stay away while the others were under her thumb. Kept comin' back to keep 'em safe._"

Baby nodded, remembering the legend. "You caused those incidents so you could go back to Queen's Hill. To keep the children safe."

"_Got back too late__,_" Amelia rasped, lips trembling. "_I tried to get 'em out, b__ut then she set the fire. I hit her and stuck her in the closet, but I couldn't save 'em. Died tryin', still tryin' to save 'em._"

_Not a vengeful spirit, then, _Baby thought. _A soul trapped by guilt until a wrong is righted. _"You haven't been setting the fires?" she asked.

"_I've been tryin' to tell you! Same as she who did it before!"_

"You were set up. Tell me who did it," Baby pleaded. "Tell me who she is and I can stop her!"

_"__The beaky old bird!_"

"Who the hell is tha - " Then she had it. The only answer it could be had been staring them in the face the whole time. "Oh god, the headmistress? Agnes Oldwin?"

"_Stopped her before, but __I can't stop her now."_

"Stop her from what?" Amelia sadly pointed back up the hill towards the orphanage. Baby looked as well and saw the most terrible sight. Dark smoke curling over the treetops and the orange glow of fire.

A lot of fire.

Girl and ghost raced back up the hill to find the museum burning like a bonfire. "Dean? Sam? Cas?" Baby called out, looking around frantically for any sign of her boys. The stolen Camry was still sitting at the treeline, but nobody else was around them. "DEAN! SAM! CAS!"

_"She's locked 'em...in the basement_." Amelia suddenly looked tired and much older than her fifteen years. "_No way to save 'em._"

"There's gotta be!" Baby forced herself to think past her panic. If Agnes was the vengeful spirit, then she had to be tied to something. Something of hers, like Amelia was tied to the cameo. "You've got a power over fire. You kept the others under control until someone put them out."

_"Fire's too big. Can't put it out._"

"You don't have to, just get me inside." She looked back at Amelia with fervent hope. "If you get me into the basement, I can stop her once and for all."

* * *

Dean kept trying to drag Sam and Castiel towards the exit, but he was too weak to do much of anything. Smoke filled the man's lungs and dulled his brains, killing him slower and more surely than anything he'd ever experienced before.

He was almost completely unconscious when Agnes Oldwin finally appeared. With her iron-gray hair pulled back in a severe bun and her starched Victorian gown, she was the perfect attire of a stuffy governess. The constipated look from the picture was gone, replaced with a malicious grin.

The old woman's cackling drowned out the sounds of the fire eating the floorboards above them. "_Wretched boys, come to spoil my fun!_" Teleporting to Dean's side, she knelt down and grabbed his chin with nicotine-stained fingers, forcing him to look up at her. "_Worthless son! Worthless boy! Best to die a failure than waste your life and my time!_"

"_Beaky old bird!_" came another ghostly wail from behind Agnes. She released Dean's chin to see Amelia standing by the staircase, outstretched hands glowing with red-gold light. Baby was beside her, eyes cold and intent.

"_Amelia, you wretched brat!_" Agnes Oldwin screeched as she conjured orange fire in her hands. "_Can't stop it now, Amelia!_"

Amelia merely threw a fireball with a curse. The two ghosts began lobbing fireballs at each other, exchanging screeches and yowls. The ghost-children wailed and hid behind the stairs as they watched the confrontation. Dean didn't know where to look at first, then realized that he couldn't see Baby. He tried calling her name, but the smoke was too thick for him to draw enough breath.

"Dean!" A form moved through the haze closer to his side. He squinted to see Baby's black hair sticking up every which way, her cheeks flushed, and soot coating her hands. She held up a small object, announced,"I got it!" then threw it into the air and yelled at Agnes, "Go burn in hell where you belong, you old hag!"

Amelia threw a fireball at the object like she was shooting a clay pigeon, hitting it in midair. Agnes threw back her head and let out a blood-curdling scream as her own fire rebounded, engulfing her body and searing her to a crisp. But the flames didn't abate with her defeat.

Baby cursed. "Dean, we gotta go now!" she yelled, shaking Dean's shoulder as she tried to tug Sam and Castiel. "Sammy, Cas, wake up!"

Dean tried to rise, but his sluggish body couldn't respond. Sam coughed beside him, trying to roll over on his side. Castiel wasn't even moving, lying facedown on the ground.

_We're going to die here, _Dean thought, closing his eyes. He couldn't even muster up the indignant rage that, after surviving Hell, the Apocalypse, Leviathans and Purgatory, they was about to die in a basement from freaking smoke inhalation. It was so damn _normal _that it galled him.

Then he felt small hands grabbing his arms, lifting his torso off the ground and dragging him up the stairs like a sack of grain. He felt flames licking his palms and cheeks, but didn't feel or smell his flesh burn. He heard Baby saying that they were almost out.

The last thing he remembered was a whoosh of cool, clean air hitting his face, and the sound of approaching fire truck sirens.

* * *

"So Agnes Oldwin set the original fire," Castiel said. "And she was the vengeful spirit that set the most recent ones as well."

Eighteen hours after entering Queen's Hill Children's Home, the Winchesters and Castiel were recuperating from their near-death experience and listening to Baby's account of what happened in the basement. The hospital was rather accommodating, putting all three men in the same room and accepting Baby's semi-legitimate-looking insurance card. The fact that she managed to charm the male nurse on duty didn't hurt either.

"What was tying her to the house?" Dean asked. "She burned to death, and all her other things burned in the original fire."

Baby poured water into three cups and handed one to each of her boys. "Amelia said that Agnes Oldwin really liked her tobacco. She'd hide her snuffbox behind a loose brick in the basement wall." Now that she mentioned it, Dean faintly recalled the staining on Agnes's gnarled fingers and her bad breath. "All I had to do was find it and let Amelia flambé it. Just like before, her own fire killed her."

"What about Amelia? The ghost kids?" Dean pressed.

"They're at peace. The kids when all their toys went up with the museum, and I went back to the cemetery while you guys were sleeping."

"You burn her bones?"

"Didn't need to. Amelia was trapped by her guilt at not being able to save the other children, and she was fixated on saving others from that fate." Her lips trembled despite the smile on her face. "She finally saved everyone last night, so she disappeared at sunrise."

"Speaking of fire..." Sam winced as he tried shifting to a more comfortable position. "How did you get us out of there, anyway?"

"Well, Amelia couldn't completely suppress Agnes's fire. So I asked the other children to help me carry you guys out of the basement. Amelia manipulated the fire so we had a clear path to the front door."

The doctor entered at that moment with his nurses, so Baby stepped out into the hallway. Leaning weakly against the wall, she brought her clasped hands to her mouth and sighed. Her lips moved silently as she thanked whatever lucky stars the boys had left that they made it out of there alive.

One nurse passed Baby, paused slightly, and shivered. "Excuse me," she asked Baby with a puzzled frown. "Did it just get cold in here?"

"Maybe a draft? We are standing under a vent."

The easy excuse satisfied the nurse and she went on her way. Baby watched her go, then glanced up at the ceiling.

There was no vent.

___"Mommy? Where's my mommy? Where am I?"_

Baby leaned her head back against the wall and watched the lights above her start to flicker. Her eyes slid shut as more images and sounds burst to life in her mind...

_Another hospital hallway unfolded behind her eyelids, unknown but at the same time familiar -_

_The sound of crying, a feeling of loneliness and smothering cold -_

_More little voices crying out "Mommy? Mommy, where are you? Where am I?" -_

_A high-pitched, cruel laugh as one voice was cut off mid-pleading -_

_"I'm scared! I'm scared!"_

Her eyes opened slightly to glance down her nose as she gently exhaled. A small cloud of vapor puffed between her lips.

"Well," she whispered with a sigh, "time to hit the books."

* * *

**Baby's got a secret, and as with everything _Supernatural_, secrets kept can hurt later on.**

**Review please!**


	20. Baby's First Movie(s)

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural._**

**AN: We've reached 20 chapters and almost 50 reviews! I just want to thank everyone reading and reviewing, the just-readers, and even those who did a once-through. You're all amazing~!**

* * *

**It's Disney, So Your Argument is Invalid**

* * *

"Hey, you deaf or something?" Dean asked as he came to Baby's doorway. "I've been calling for you for half an hour, didn't you hear me?"

"Huh?" Baby absently asked, never tearing her eyes from the television. "You say something?"

"What the heck are you watching?" Dean then saw the collection of DVD cases in front of her and blinked when he recognized most of the titles. "Have you been watching Disney movies all day?"

"Don't be silly. I started out with _Dirty Dancing._" She shook her head. "Now I understand my namesake. Especially that comment about nobody putting Baby in the corner."

"Where the hell did you even get all of these?"

"Redbox in town."

"So, what? You're going through the whole collection?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I did all the Disney Princesses first, so I went back and watched the ones I skipped."

He glanced at the TV to identify the movie she had in now and blinked in surprise. "Pinocchio? Why?"

Baby didn't answer at first, watching intently as the blond Blue Fairy transformed Pinocchio into a human boy. "Because..." _Because I can relate to Pinocchio, the lifeless thing that was suddenly brought to life, but not as a real person. Because I don't understand why I'm alive, and there's no helpful Jiminy Cricket to help me figure out my purpose. _

Unwilling to tell the truth, she merely replied, "Because it was next on my queue." As Pinocchio and Gepetto danced happily around the shop and Jiminy Cricket received his medal, the biggest smile bloomed across the girl's face. "See, that's what I call an awesome ending. Nobody dies and everyone is happy."

Dean rolled his eyes. "That's why they call it a fairy tale, Baby. That kind of stuff doesn't happen to real people."

"Never?" she challenged. "You're telling me that you've never seen a fairy tale ending in real life."

"Oh I've seen some fairy tale endings. A couple Grimm ones come to mind." The memory of Callie Garrison made his mouth twist in a grimace. "Look, I'm not saying it's impossible. But I know better than to hold my breath and hope it's going to happen to me, or to Sam. We just don't have that kind of luck."

Baby heaved a deep, impatient sigh. "Do you ever get tired of being so cynical? Why can't you just take a break from being a suspicious hunter and enjoy some childhood innocence?" She grabbed up a pair of DVD cases and held them out to Dean. "Pick the next one. You're watching it with me. We'll get Sam - "

"Sam's got a line on a new case. That's why I'm here. We gotta debrief - "

"The case will still be there in two hours." She got to her feet and strode over to stick her head out the door. "Hey, Sammy! Get your enormous moose butt down here! Grab Cas and Kevin too! We're watching a movie!"

In less than fifteen minutes she had four boys sitting on or in front of her bed, a bowl of popcorn in her lap, and a large bottle of soda to split between five plastic cups. The DVD was in the player and the opening credits rolled, stunning all the boys with her choice of movie. "_Herbie: Fully Loaded_? Why this one?" Sam wanted to know.

"Because I've watched the other Herbie movies and this one looks awesome. Now shut up and let's watch it."

The spunky antics of the quirky Love Bug had Baby grinning like a child and the boys laughing within minutes. Even Castiel showed a smile from time to time during the movie. By the final race, everyone was cheering for the little white car as he climbed up the NASCAR track fence to prevail over the bad guy and win the race.

_Disney really does make people happy, _Baby thought as they headed back to the library. _Even for a little while_. She smiled and wondered if they'd want to watch _Cars _once she started watching Pixar movies...

* * *

**Family movie time! This was fun.**

**Review please!**


	21. Baby's First Portrait

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural._**

* * *

**Paint Me A Picture**

* * *

Small towns usually irritated Baby. Lack of interesting locales and sheer boredom from having one main street to traverse meant she'd spend too much time in the motel room surfing the Web on Sam's laptop. But after a brush with the FBI that still had Dean and Sam glancing over their shoulders, she couldn't really argue.

She sighed and glanced over at the two exhausted hunters on the tiny twin beds. She knew they'd be out for a few more hours at least; close encounters with the law made everyone a little jumpy, and standard procedure after that included avoiding anywhere remotely near a major highway. They'd burned serious oil to cross five state lines and wind up in this little scrap of nowhere.

Shutting the lid of the laptop as quietly as she could, Baby scratched her neck and stood up to stretch. She'd long exhausted all her bookmarked sites. There was only so much Internet a car-girl could take.

So instead of staying cooped up in the room, she left a note for the slumbering brothers and decided to take a walk to get some fresh air.

* * *

The street artist was on the sidewalk by the park, sitting on a high stool and watching families interact on the expanse of grass before him. He had a grandfatherly look about him, with thinning white hair covered by a newsboy cap and laugh lines across his face, and he wore a cardigan that sagged around his plaid shirt in a way that only made him seem more endearing. He held a tray of pastels in one hand, his green eyes twinkling as he absently transplanted what he saw onto the easel before him with loose, almost careless swipes of pastel.

Coming up beside him, Baby felt her breath catch. The picture itself was amazingly beautiful, and she almost half-expected the figures on the paper to begin moving on their own. "That's beautiful," she said, walking into his sightline with a shy smile. "You're very talented."

The artist shrugged modestly, not glancing away from the park. "I only draw the grace of nature as it can be seen through mortal eyes."

"You got a good pair, then."

The artist added a few final touches to his easel and looked over at her. He tore off the park picture and tucked it into the black art portfolio leaning against his chair. "Would you like to see what I see in you?"

"A portrait? Of me?" The idea was appealing. The only picture of herself was the one she gave to Dean, and the thought of having her portrait done by this man gave her a warm feeling akin to how she imagined her engine would feel if it ran on liquid sunshine.

"I have some time." He gestured to a black wrought-iron bench in front of his easel. "Why don't you sit down."

Feeling a little unsure of how she should sit, Baby awkwardly sat down and crossed one leg over her knee, her hands in her lap. The old man smiled patiently as he checked the light and his position. "Don't pose or anything. Just relax," he said gently. "Must easier to show the truth when you're not faking."

Baby leaned back and stretched one arm out on the back of the bench. Her gaze drifted back to the families milling about in the park. "You really capture the innocence of the people in your art. Made it look like the evils in the world can't touch them."

"You speak of evil as if you know more than your age suggests."

Thinking over the years of hunting she'd shared with her boys, Baby gave a weak laugh. "You have no idea."

"Someone as beautiful as you shouldn't have such a jaded outlook."

A blush crept across her cheeks. She'd heard people call her beautiful many times, and some people had even called her exotic-looking. But the way this man spoke, it was like he wasn't looking at her physical appearance at all. Like he was seeing something else. "I can't afford to be innocent. My line of work has a habit of beating that out of you very quickly."

"You don't believe yourself capable of innocence." He pulled off his cap to scratch his head, replaced the cap, and picked up another color pastel. "And yet you still see the innocence of the world."

"Seeing it in others and believing it in myself are two different things."

"And I only thought decrepit old men like me could be so cynical."

"You don't sound cynical," she stated with a small smile. "And you don't look decrepit."

"I have my good days." He winked one grass-green eye at her. "And I see people a lot better than most. They tend to surprise you when you take the time to believe in them."

"They do that when you trust them too, and not always the best way."

He shrugged but didn't respond, focused on shading in a part of the portrait. "You've chosen a very lonely way to go through life."

"But I'm not alone." Baby smiled as she thought of Dean, Sam, Castiel, Kevin and Charlie. "I've got good friends."

"Do they know your secrets? Because I can tell you've got a big one." Her wide gaze snapped back at him, and he shrugged. "It makes you tense and sad, and it shows in your eyes. You're not alone, but you are living a lonely life." The old man added a few last touches to his canvas and smiled at her. "And there we are."

Eager to see, she practically teleported from the bench to the street artist's side. At first glance, it seemed similar to his previous picture. The colors were vibrant, showing the lovely summer day around them. The girl in the picture was sitting relaxed on the black iron bench, one arm draped over the back, one leg thrown over the other, and her left hand resting on her knee.

But the actual form made Baby pause in shock; the man had drawn her as if seeing her through a cloud of fog. Her edges were slightly blurred, and her entire body seemed almost translucent, the wrought patterns of the bench almost visible behind her torso and shoulders. Her head was half-turned towards the artist, a light wind plucking at her black tresses to flutter away her face and show her starkly pale eyes staring straight out of the canvas, as if she could see them. The barest hint of a grin tilted one corner of her lips up, lending a dark and mischievous taint to her already haunting air.

Baby's real lips parted to form an O. "That's...how you see me?" she breathed.

"Yes." His finger reached out to blend an errant lock of black into a softer tendril. "Stunning and a little mysterious, but not completely here." He leaned back and studied the portrait, his arms crossed over his stomach and a smile on his face. "Ethereal, vulnerable, but by no means defenseless."

_Like a ghost. _Baby's eyes shifted to stare at a nearby flowerbed, unable to keep her painted double's gaze. "I look...scary. Like I'm planning to attack or something."

"The strength of a lonely one can sometimes be seen as such." The street artist patted her shoulder gently. "It doesn't do to keep such things bottled up, love. Sooner than later, people begin to avoid you because you are too determined to prove you are better off alone. Then, you will truly be lonely." He offered a warm smile, which Baby managed to return after a few seconds. "But what am I saying? You're a clever sort of girl, I'm sure. You'll figure something out."

Warmed by the free advice and the gift of her beautifully haunting portrait, Baby thanked the old man and made her way back to the motel. Holding the protected artwork against her chest, Baby felt a warm glow emanate from her chest and flow through her veins. _Best small town adventure **ever**, _she thought, smiling softly as her mind returned to the street artist's words. They gave her a touch of hope about her next move.

* * *

The street artist watched the black-haired girl walk away with strong strides, holding his artwork as if cradling a dear child. He smiled at her pluck, nodded once in silent self-praise, and reached into his pocket to pull out a hunk of black quartz crystal. One breath on its rough surface caused a point within the stone to glow.

"I've found her," he whispered. "There is no reason to rush. The spell is still stable." He listened, then shook his head slightly. "Not sure, but she is stronger than before. It doesn't seem like she's experiencing any sort of compulsion." Another pause to hear. "But should she awaken before it is time - "

The stone's center light flared like an exploding star, then retreated back to a pinprick. The old man hastily cut himself off and bowed his head. "Of course. Of course. Forgive me, it was not my place to question." He glanced over at where she'd just turned back to the motel. "I cannot follow. Where she goes is protected from all not human." He listened for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. I shall continue to watch and await your command."

* * *

**Ooooh, I meant this to be a simple filler, but hey! Interesting bit at the end there!**

**Review please! And if you've got any questions, I do welcome PMs!**


	22. Baby's First Tattoo

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural._**

* * *

**A Little Ink Never Hurt Nobody**

* * *

Dean and Sam had to move fast to catch her before she turned and bolted for freedom when they heard the whining buzz of the tattoo gun. "I can't do this," she said, fighting against Sam's arms. "I'll find another pendant. There's got to be one in those vaults, I haven't inventoried everything yet..."

Dean planted himself straight in front of her - a risky move, since she still retained her supernatural strength and could potentially plow through him. "We agreed to this, fast girl. You lost your anti-evil charm on the last job and got possessed. The only way to make sure it doesn't happen again is to make it stick, literally."

"But...a tattoo? Really?" Baby whimpered. "Kevin says they hurt. A lot."

Holding her in a full nelson, Sam couldn't stop a chuckle. "Baby, Kevin could barely stop whining when the guy started tracing the design on his arm. Kid's a fantastic prophet who's got the balls to stand up to Crowley, but he turns into a little wimp at the thought of needles."

That didn't settle her fears, but she did relax a little. "Doesn't hurt that bad? You sure?"

Dean smiled at her. "Not very, no. And anyway, we'll be here to hold your hand in case you get scared." He saw the tattoo artist coming out form the back room and grinned. "Hey. You Thane?"

"That's the name over the door." Thane had sparkling brown eyes and a shaggy mane of sand-blonde hair tied back in a tail. Tattoo sleeves covered both his bare forearms, and there was an line of sigils peeking out from under the strap of his wife-beater. His well-worn jeans had different-colored smears on the fabric and a pair of gloves sticking out of a pocket. "You the guys Garth called me about?"

"Yeah. I'm Dean, that's my brother Sam. The captive in his arms is Paula."

"Pleasure." Thane flashed Baby a grin and winked. "First time under the needle, sugar?"

She broke out of Sam's grip and tugged her jacket back into place. "That obvious, huh?"

"Nothin' to be ashamed of. I had a six-foot two-fifty-plus badass in my chair last week. Guy had taken out a Rugaru the week before, and he conks out like a baby when he saw the needle coming for his arm."

"See?" Dean clapped a hand on Baby's shoulder before speaking to Thane again. "She needs anti-possession ASAP. Garth says you know a lot about protective ink."

"Ink is a good medium for spellcraft and wards. I work on a lot of hunters and white witches who need protection from the forces of evil." Thane pulled back his curtain and showed her the room, covered in drawings of sigils, runes, and other supernatural symbols. The chair in the center resembled a dentist's chair, save the pair of handcuffs hanging from the armrests.

Baby paled at the sight of the cuffs. "Please tell me you're not gonna lock me down."

"No. Sometimes I get unfriendlys in the chair. They can get a little squirmy." Thane strode to his wall of drawings and picked up a binder from the side table. "So, anti-possession? Got a specific type in mind or - "

Sam pulled down his shirt collar to bare his tattoo. "This one works for us."

"All right then." Thane flipped several pages and picked a stencil from the binder. He looked at Baby. "Want it anyplace special?"

"Over my heart like theirs is fine."

"All right. Take off your jacket and shirt and take a seat."

Baby obeyed, playing with her necklace as she settled in the chair. Her eyes quickly sought out Dean, like a kid nervous about going to school her first day. "You promise it won't hurt?"

He reached over and took her hand. "If it does, you can squeeze as hard as you want. Just don't break my hand," he teased.

Thane approached the chair and smiled at Baby. "You ready?"

"No." She closed her eyes and squeezed Dean's hand. "Do it before I chicken out."

Thane fired up his gun.

* * *

"Wow." Sam shook his head as he pointed the car towards Lebanon and home. "She can have a beatdown with a demon, outsmart a reaper, and take a knife to the gut, but one measly tattoo and she faints like a girl."

"Shut up," Dean scolded, sitting in the backseat with Baby's head in his lap. "She is still a girl."

Raking his hair out of his eyes, Sam chuckled. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. But hey, at least it took. One less thing to worry about." He glanced back at Dean. "Right?"

But instead of looking relieved, Dean dragged his fingers gently through Baby's tangled black hair and sighed. "I just don't know, Sammy. I don't know anymore."

The rest of the ride back was silent. Sam spoke again once the bunker appeared in the headlights. "So what now?"

"We keep her close." Dean glanced down at the still-unconscious girl and smiled fondly at her. "She's family. We protect our family."

"We're no closer now to figuring out what's up with Baby than we were when she first turned human. If anything, we've got even more questions than answers." Sam put the car in park and turned to face his brother. "We can't have any more surprises. We've got enough of that crap already."

The conversation ended when a low moan signaled Baby's return to the waking world. Her eyelids fluttered open, first seeing Dean's smile and then noticing Sam's grin. "What? What is it?" she asked. Looking around, she groaned. "I fainted, didn't I?" When the brothers couldn't help chuckling, Baby shook her head. "Aw, _dammit._"

* * *

**I don't have any tattoos, but I'm sure I'd be that person who whimpers during inking.**

**Review please!**


	23. Baby's First Celebrity

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Supernatural_ and I have no knowledge of how car auctions really work, so apologies.**

* * *

**Baby's First Celebrity**

* * *

If someone had to ask, Baby would say this had to be the best case they'd ever taken. By far.

Sam and Dean were off sniffing around the classy hotel for clues regarding a vampire escort who liked to use the hotel as her hunting ground, so Baby had elected to stay behind and prowl for potential targets. Her wanderings had brought her to the annex and ballrooms, which had been rented out for a vintage and classic car auction. She'd instantly gone back to the motel and changed into her favorite dress, the cowl-necked, back-baring black number she'd worn for another black-tie event featuring a very different type of car show*.

Baby couldn't help the gleeful smile threatening to break her face in two. For the first time in a long, long while, she felt completely and utterly confident in herself. After all, she was where all cars one day wished to end up.

"_Attention guests, twenty minutes to bidding on lots 24, 25, and 26. Attention, bidding on lots 24, 25, and 26 begins in twenty minutes_." The voice over the annex's intercom was cool and professional. "_Collectors with VIP passes, please make your way to the Ivory Ballroom for the auction._"

Humming to herself, Baby made her way over to an impressive line of classic cars. All were polished to mirror-bright shine and bore placards that identified their make, model, and year of production. Idling engines emitted a low drone that made her smile grow wider - the sound of her own kind recognizing a fellow classic.

_**You look human, but we know you're not**,_ said a cobalt-blue '66 Shelby Cobra to her left. The car's idling engine sounded like words in her mind. **_Make and model?_**

_'67 Chevrolet Impala, _she responded in kind, the extra engine noise going unnoticed by the humans surrounding her. _I'm just passing through. Anyone interesting passing through this place?_

The silver '61 Jaguar E-type to her right had an engine-voice as smooth as well-melted chocolate.**_ One might really pique your interest._**

_**A Porsche Spyder,** _piped up a fellow Chevrolet, a '69 Camero whose red coat made a cherry look pale.

Baby wrinkled her nose. Porsches were pretty things with plenty of power, especially Spyders, but they tended to be a conceited bunch. She preferred cars with muscle - Shelby Mustangs, or Pontiac GTOs. They had power under their hoods _and _didn't give themselves airs.

**_He doesn't look himself, but we all know him. The famous one,_ **the navy-colored '64 Aston Martin DB3 said. **_Even the humans know this one's story. The cursed Spyder who disappeared from the back of a truck._**

Her jaw dropped in shock. "It can't be," she whispered, forgetting where she was. "He's been missing for almost forty years. Is he really here?"

_**Over with the Porsches and Ferraris. He's number 130**, _said the Jaguar. **_Best hurry. I doubt he'll be here much longer._**

Baby hauled ass to where the Porsches were lined up, eyes frantically scanning her pamphlet to locate number 130. The cars around her rumbled their greetings, but she paid them no mind. If the Jaguar's information was correct, then somewhere in this line of 911 Turbos and Boxsters and Spyders -

Was a plain silver Porsche that, if she hadn't been looking for number 130, her eyes would've passed right over. _**Hey there, **_said the Spyder, warm and flirty. _**You're certainly an interesting set of wheels. Got a name, baby?**_

_Got it in one, _Baby replied, feeling her lips tilt up in a goofy smile. _Y__ou're Little Bastard, aren't you?_

**_Got it in one. Impressive._**

_It's amazing to speak with you. Where have you been all these years? The humans have been looking_.

He sounded aloof, as if speaking of another's adventures. _**Taken from the back of a truck, then left to collect dust in some man's collection of fine cars. When he went kaput, I ended up here. **_His engine-voice changed slightly, back to the interested flirty tone he'd greeted her with. _**Definitely missed seeing ladies with more curves than a winding mountain road. My James sure knew how to charm the ladies.**_

_You've definitely picked that up from him, _Baby stated with a faint blush on her cheeks. _Is it true that you're cursed?_

**_I've got a taste for going faster than human reflexes will allow, and sometimes it bleeds into my driver, but I wouldn't go as far to say cursed, Baby, _**Little Bastard clarified. _**Sure, I've got some deaths to my name, but i**__**t's not my fault if humans can't drive as well as they believe they can.**_

Baby heard the intercom lady's cool voice announcing the next lots up for auction, including the one Little Bastard was a part of. _What'll happen to you now?_

**_Probably back into another man's garage, missing the taste of open air and the grip of asphalt beneath my wheels. But better that than to be sold for parts and blamed for more bad driving. At least I'll have new engines to talk to._**

She frowned and placed a hand on his hood. _I'm sorry._

He heaved a deep sigh. _**Well, at least it wasn't a total loss. I got to speak with a very classy lady who is definitely easy on the headlights,**_he said with a flirtatious air.

Baby winked at the Spyder with her own flirty grin. _Easy there, hot rod. I'm spoken for._

**_Hope he knows how to take care of a pretty lady like you._**

_I hope you end up with someone who will care for you just as much. _With a final pat on his hood, Baby said farewell to Little Bastard one last time.

* * *

Dean hissed in pain as Sam applied an alcohol-soaked bandage to the ragged bite mark on his arm. "I hate vampires."

"No, you just hate vampire hookers," Sam said patiently. "Stop being a little bitch and hold still. Where's Baby?"

"No idea, but her good dress is missing from the closet." Dean grunted. "She probably went out for some fun."

Baby arrived not five minutes later, bursting into the room with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. "Ohmigod, ohmigod, I can't believe I met him!" she giggled happily as she kicked off her shoes.

"Met? Him?" Dean's tone went from pained to protectively pissed faster than a shifting skinwalker. "Who?"

"You look nice. Where were you?" Sam asked, wrapping Dean's wound.

"Downstairs at the car auction. Got curious and started chatting up the classics. Lots of nice ones, though some were a bit high-strung. I swear, if I ever get that haughty down the line, do me a favor and kick me in the hubcaps."

"Who was the guy you met?" Dean raised his voice over hers. One fist clenched on the bed, which made Sam grin in amusement.

"It wasn't a guy, silly. I met a Porsche Spyder, Dean." She couldn't hide her excitement as she quickly explained. "A Porsche 550 Spyder that'd been in a private collection since 1970, after he got boosted from a CHP truck."

He gasped. "You sure? It was really -"

"Here and gone. But I met him! I met Little Bastard!" Baby giggled and jumped in place like a groupie given a backstage pass for a few more seconds before calming herself down. "And you guys? I'm guessing from the bloody clothes and my Dean's bandage that you ganked the vamp?"

* * *

***Baby's dress is from Home Is Where My Baby Is: Baby's Night Out.**


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